MICHAEL'S MUSINGS - March 2025
A Strategy to Keep Focused on the Creative
Studio executives point to the UK as a top choice for overseas filming according to a recent survey. But even in seemingly familiar locations, the choice between hiring a line producer (LP) or a production service company (PSC) isn’t always straightforward. In today’s dynamic entertainment industry, where narratives and budgets are constantly being re-evaluated, this decision has a direct impact on the success of filming abroad.
Production executives naturally weigh the advantages and disadvantages of comprehensive film support from a production service company against the focused attention of a line producer. In an era of budget constraints, can a strategic combination of both optimize results for film and TV projects?
From their own firsthand experience, our PSN UK Partners have analyzed the key challenges facing foreign producers filming in the UK. Click here to read their expert insights from EP Sarah Drummond.
And tell us what you think. We’d love to know as we collect more insights from preferred film and television locations to share in future installments.
Please continue reading for a selection of industry buzz about government regulation and incentives, AI, DEI, content and viewer trends, and recently released work filmed with our Partners worldwide. (My bold).
FILM AND TELEVISION
Tubi Study Respondents Push Back on Streamer Ads; Youth Want Fresh Content
Audiences are turning to streaming for escapism; 80 percent would rather watch a show or movie than scroll social media. Also, Gen Z is demonstrating franchise fatigue. Among all audiences, 70 percent want to see more independent content, and 73 percent of Gen Z want originals over remakes.” (WorldScreen)
Known IP Dominates Film & Television
“Commissioners are safeguarding spending by continuing to invest in well-loved characters and the universes they inhabit. Streamers are also leveraging existing IP to create localized versions, catering to regions where streaming adoption is still growing.” (WorldScreen)
BBC Bucks Trend With Boost to Unscripted Production in Hollywood
“We’ve proven to be successful at producing both original IP and format adaptations in nearly every unscripted genre. We’re deeply committed to the growth of our L.A. unscripted business and excited about what’s on the horizon for us in this next chapter.” (WorldScreen)
The Ultimate Frenemy: YouTube at 20
“’It’s so many businesses wrapped into one — short-form video, long-form video, live, cable TV. I don’t think any media company today can ignore YouTube. It’s too big and too powerful.'” (Variety)
Soft Power of Chinese Animation Blockbuster
“Ne Zha 2‘s unprecedented success has set a new benchmark for Chinese animation. It has already inspired international distributors to take a second look at the country’s animation exports. The film’s global reach has also highlighted the potential of Chinese animation to serve as a cultural bridge, fostering greater understanding and appreciation of the country’s culture worldwide.” (Variety)
Liverpool Spend on This City Is Ours Cements “Hollywood of the North”
“The project has reported a total spend for the region at just under £9m which equates to just under £20 for each £1 spent of the Fund’s investment – which is an outstanding achievement.”
Netflix Raises Global Content Spend 11%, Targets $18 Billion in 2025
“’We’re not anywhere near a ceiling’ with respect to content spending. ‘It’s more about, where is the biggest opportunity to grow and spend… We want to stay in growth mode versus maintenance mode as long as possible.’” (Variety)
European Sports’ Rights in Streamers’ Sights
“As more audiences migrate to ad-tiers, they will need to be served with a different type of content, specifically content which recurs regularly, thereby bringing both audiences and advertising revenues. Live sport fits the bill perfectly and we can see that filter into streamers’ strategies.” (SportsPro)
AI-Driven Studio Promises Photorealistic Stories for Under $500,000
“Staircase is ‘committed to working with union members in many production departments. Pairing ethical AI usage with our industry’s most underutilized assets – overlooked stories waiting to be produced from fantastic writers and directors.’” (Deadline)
“While Trump’s war on diversity, equity and inclusion policies began long after the best picture Oscar nominees and winners were greenlit, it is hard to ignore how these films defiantly shine a light on the oppressed, the under-represented, and the other.” (Screen Daily)
Canal+ Investment Secures First Display Rights of French and Euro Films
“The deal has been greeted with relief by the French industry — multiple projects for which Canal+ is a vital ally in the pre-financing stage have been on standby for months. The system has protected the French theatrical business – which ranked as Europe’s healthiest in 2024 — and has also benefitted local production.” (Variety)
Trump Stand on Australia Content Quotas Under Sway of Big Tech Lobbying
“The Australian government’s proposal to implement local content quotas for international streaming companies — which it shelved late last year as it awaited the outcome of the US election — would also put US revenue “at risk”, the CCIA said. (Information Age)
Sky Showtime & Prime Video Highlight Market Trends at MIP London
“What do streamers want?’ They want subscribers and profitability rather than subscribers at all costs.” (Cineuropa)
Prime Video Reveals Road Map for Japan and Asia
“We see more global opportunity for some of the different titles coming out of Asia, in particular anime and the K-dramas, which we’ve started sourcing more of both, and are starting to distribute those more around the world.” (Variety)
Animation, True Crime, and non-English Content Fuel Record Viewing on Netflix
“Subscribers streamed more content than ever in the back half of 2024. Squid Game 2 represented only 0.7% of global viewing for the time period.” (Variety)
YouTube Registers 1 Billion Monthly Podcast Viewers
“Podcasts with video are more than just a trend, they meet audiences where they are. In 2024, users watched more than 400 million hours of podcasts monthly on living-room devices, the company said.” (Variety)
TV Set Boom Is No Reason to Produce YouTube Originals
“Our commercial success will only exist with other people’s content. Our mission is to give that content to users around the world, but in order to do that, we need to have it.” (Deadline)
Keys to Navigating the Digital-First Landscape
“We see audiences gravitate towards the real, the raw and the personal. Digital-first commissioning doesn’t mean digital-only, as some of their best ideas have started online and then expanded to the wider business. (Cineuropa)
FAST Content Goes Current to Raise Profile
Reality is the fastest-growing category, rising to 138 channels from 19 in July of last year. The number of sports channels, meanwhile, more than doubled to 220. Program-level metadata providing understanding of FAST content is more important than ever to audience engagement and advertising initiatives.” (WorldScreen)
Takeaways from MIP London + London TV Screenings
“Stars indeed count for ever more in today’s challenged TV environment where money is tighter and shows have to stand out in a crowd. This refers to all programming genres, especially drama.” (Variety)
Broadcast Bucks Downward Viewership Trends in 2024 Luminate Report
“Broadcast TV was ‘surprisingly resilient,’ recovering from the work stoppages a bit quicker than its streaming and cable counterparts with a 25% year-over-year increase.” (Deadline)
Delayed Adoption of SVoD in Germany
“Germany only reached the moment at which SVoD surpassed pay TV in 2024. Spain hit this milestone as early as 2019, followed by the UK and Italy in 2020. France is still far from reaching this juncture.” (Cineuropa)
Prime Video Hits Linear TV in Germany and Austria
“Streaming platforms are starting to gain ground in key European territories, but linear public service and commercial broadcast TV networks continue to have an outsized influence on the shows and movies that people watch there.” (The Desk)
Streaming Surpasses Public TV Revenues in Europe
“Adequate funding is not only essential for public service broadcasters to keep investing in distinctive programming and fulfilling their public service remits, it is also necessary to support the wider European production sector.” (Cineuropa)
Pinewood Pivot from Film & TV to Data Centres
“The reduction in global content production, combined with rising construction costs and business rates, triggered a review of our existing planning consent and we believe the revised proposals provide a credible alternative.” (Data Center Dynamics)
ADVERTISING
US Tariffs Poised to Undermine Ad Spend
“Ninety-four percent of US advertisers said they were concerned about the impact of tariffs on ad spend, according to a survey of 100 ‘advertising decision-makers’. Of those surveyed, 45% said they planned to reduce overall ad spend.” (Marketing Brew)
YouTube Offensive to Lure Ad Dollars Away from Traditional TV
“To capture cultural moments and audience engagement, brands must align with creators — who now command the largest and most engaged audiences across digital platforms. Spotter Showcase is a manifestation of this new reality, where creators, not traditional networks, are starting to lead the entertainment industry.” (Y! Entertainment)
Shiny Awards Founder, Caroline Bottomley, gathered a full house for Talks hosted by Not Just Any and chaired by PSN UK Liaison Pippa Bhatt. The panel of brand experts featured (L-R) Luke Hammersley, Bethany Easton, Helen Jones and Tom Skinner.
PSN UK Liaison Pippa Bhatt Moderates Why Brands Go Direct to Production
“Two key insights from the discussion: Production needs to get really curious about metrics and understand more about the brand’s media usage. Secondly, production partners are seen as a way to unlock creative magic.” (LBB)
U.S. Advertisers Tap Into Family Fandom
“Screentime isn’t just for babysitting anymore—it has become an important bonding experience, and parents are just as engaged in what’s on the screen as their kids, presenting a unique opportunity for brands to engage audiences and generate interest.” (WorldScreen)
Deepfake Tech. Reveals Risky Influencer Health Posts
“Garlic cloves in the nose, ingestion of methylene blue, deliberate disruption of the diet… These are just some examples of practices with sometimes dangerous consequences that are being disseminated to millions of Internet users.” (LBB)
CRAFT
The Dark Art of Severance: A Dissection of Branding
“True world-building isn’t just slapping a logo on things – it’s creating a complete, multi-sensorial system where every choice reinforces the story you want to tell. Those maze-like hallways aren’t just cool set design, but a metaphor for the entire employee and consumer experience. That’s designing with depth.” (LBB)
Code Gives Wings to Craft: An AI Case Study
“AI helped us refine and visualise the idea in a way that gave the clients confidence to invest at scale. They weren’t just buying into an abstract vision; they could see its full potential, which made committing to a larger production a far easier decision.” (Shots)
Product Shoots Reinvented with AI
“Unilever is integrating product images into its content workflows, from TV to digital commerce, removing duplication across the process from an average of five to one. ‘We’ve transformed what was once a complex, slow process into a marketing system that frees up our teams to focus on what they do best, think bigger, be creative, push boundaries and create magic for our brands.’” (Marketing Interactive)
One Take to Capture Fall of 20,000 Dominos: Behind the Scenes
“You can see in the film that there are imperfections in how some of the dominoes fall. You wouldn’t get these perfect imperfections in CGI. We wanted to show people the love and craft that went into it. (LBB)
Europe’s AI Act Arms Creatives to Push Back
“Every technological innovation, to thrive, has required a protective regulatory framework. Without regulation, innovation collapses — history has proven this, time and time again. We want to move forward, to embrace progress, but not at any cost and not at any price.” (Variety)
Hollywood Broadens Argument to Uphold Copyright Protections
“When tech and AI companies demand unfettered access to all data and information, they’re not just threatening movies, books, and music, but the work of all writers, publishers, photographers, scientists, architects, engineers, designers, doctors, software developers and all other professionals who work with computers and generate intellectual property.” (Variety)
For the Love of Craft in an AI-driven Future
“It’s the human skill that attracted many to want to work in advertising in the first place. I don’t think AI or any other unforeseen innovation will ever temper people’s love for craft. Its irreplaceable charms, the aesthetic pleasure, the appreciation of how it was made. What’s more exciting for me is how creatives will take it to the next level.” (TLG)
Troubled VFX Industry Grapples With Technicolor Collapse
“The industry suffers from low margins and is heavily impacted by tax credits that have post-production work moving from one part of the world to another in an endless quest for the best incentives. As soon as AI is able to do all of the tasks of visual effects workers, Game over.” (Variety)
INCENTIVES
Ireland Spotlights 90% Upfront Incentive Built for Indie Filmmakers
“The Irish tax incentive for the screen industries provides a tax credit of up to 32% on eligible Irish expenditures based on 80% of a pic’s budget. That will soon rise to 40% for productions under 20 million Euros. Here’s the mega-plus: The credit pays out 90% upfront to a film or TV series’ budget.” (Deadline)
Czech Filmmakers Bullish on New Audiovisual Law
“The overhauled incentive scheme ‘absolutely puts us closer to where we should be’ in order to continue attracting foreign productions like Nosferatu, the Oscar contender that was largely filmed at Barrandov.” (Variety)
South Africa Rebate Delays Cause Industry Alarm
“The country’s 25% cash rebate system has effectively been crippled. The government body tasked with overseeing the rebate owes untold millions of dollars in unpaid claims to local filmmakers. A lot of projects that had been in development ‘fell off the slate.'” (Variety)
Indonesia Support for Writers a Priority for Future Growth
“The government is working to accelerate funding to support the film industry’s economic potential. Specific tax breaks are still being developed, the immediate focus is on streamlining procedures.” (Variety)
Nearly Half European Film Financing Drawn From Incentives and Public Funding
“The role of production incentives appears to grow with market size. This trend reflects the increasing availability of tax-rebate schemes and other incentives designed to attract international productions to countries with robust infrastructure and competitive financial conditions.” (Cineuropa)
California Tax Incentives Spread Across Record 51 Films
“The bulk of this allocation round was directed toward a slate of 46 independent movies, reflecting big budget productions increasingly opting to shoot in other regions with more generous tax incentives, like Georgia and the U.K.” (THR)
Being Human
The Goldmine of Neurodiversity
“Neurodivergent folks find it easier to form unexpected connections, which makes them naturally more creative, which directly impacts the effectiveness of not only advertising, but businesses as a whole. We’re a fucking goldmine!” (Shots)
Trump Administration Conditions Media Mergers on Ditch DEI
“Any businesses that are looking for FCC approval, I would encourage them to get busy ending any sort of their invidious forms of DEI discrimination.” (Deadline)
Diversity Gains in Hollywood Eroding Despite Proven Profitability
“Movies which had people of color representing between 41% and 50% of their cast — consistent with the 44.3% POC share of the U.S. population in the latest census — earned the highest median sales at $234 million domestic. Conversely, films that had BIPOC cast representation in the 11-20% range had the lowest median gross at just $33 million.” (The Wrap)
The Long Game Plan Outlined By DEI Executive Insights
“‘Change has to make it more possible for more people to be successful, because ultimately the whole organisation is successful when the underrepresented groups, the folks who have not actually enjoyed inclusion and equity start to have a positive experience. That’s going to raise the experiences of all within that organisation because people are paying attention and being intentional.’” (The Location Guide)
Duke of Edinburgh Shines Spotlight on DEI-oriented PGGB Talent Showcase
“It takes a platform like this, to really shine a light on the importance of creating opportunity for those who have the talent but maybe not the connections and access to the industry.” (PGGB)
Problem Solving and Innovation Fueled by DEI
“According to the World Economic Forum with the current rate of progress it will take FIVE generations from now to reach full gender parity – that takes us to 2158! Is anyone really happy with this?” (TVB Europe)
SAG-AFTRA Step Up Support Where Studios Back Peddle
“DEI is a ‘moral imperative’ and is also ‘crucial to the creative and economic vitality of our industry.'” (Variety)
Doc Filmmakers Aim To Disrupt DEI Rollback
“Black documentary filmmakers at the Joburg Film Festival are looking to seize this moment to disrupt and rethink widely accepted historical narratives, especially around the Black experience.” (Variety)
Indian Ad Exec. Addresses Gender Gap in Leadership
“I want to see women holding at least 50% of leadership roles in marketing. The talent exists. The real problem is bias in hiring and promotions, lack of flexibility, and limited mentorship for women in senior roles. Fix these, and leadership representation will increase.” (Campaign)
Thanks for reading! Let’s meet on set soon.
Michael
