Writers Strike Has Impacted Transatlantic Co-Productions, Says Channel 4 Content Boss
The WGA strike has had an impact on U.K./U.S. co-productions, Channel 4’s head of content Ian Katz said today.
The strike, which has been running since May 2, has spooked U.K. writers who are too loyal or nervous to engage in conversations with U.S. co-production partners, Katz said at a press briefing on Wednesday morning, where Channel 4 unveiled its 2022 revenue results.
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“A lot of U.K. writers, either out of a feeling of solidarity with colleagues in the States or concerns about not being able to work in the States, don’t want to be involved in any conversations with U.S. platforms,” Katz said in response to Variety’s question about whether the U.S. strike had had any impact across the pond.
The result is a further blow to the U.K. production sector, which is already suffering from a downturn thanks to a drop in commissioning and rise in inflation.
U.K/U.S. co-productions have become increasingly popular in recent years to offset rising production costs. Last year Channel 4 revealed it was co-producing the series “Get Millie Black” with HBO, starring Tamara Lawrance. Russell T Davies’ hit “It’s a Sin” was also a Channel/HBO co-pro.
Katz described the issue as a “short term difficulty” for projects that are moving into production now but said the network is “finding ways around” the issue.
When pressed on what kind of workarounds Channel 4 had found, Katz replied: “I think for instance some producers will choose — rather than trying to line up a U.S. partner at the start of production, they may choose to finance a show differently and then take it out to market in the States later on. I’m seeing a bit of that.”
He said he did not expect any delays as a result of the strikes.
Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon added that depending on what deal is eventually struck between the WGA and AMPTP in regards to AI, there could be a knock-on effect on the “structure of IP rights” in the U.K.
Katz said there are other ways to offset the lack of cash in the U.K. production sector, including brand-funded shows.
“The reality is that the genres that are increasingly important to us because they drive our streaming growth are actually among the more expensive because they are scripted and reality,” he said. “And our plans are to do more of those.”
Variety also asked Katz about the commissioning freeze at Channel 4, especially in light of the relatively robust 2022 annual report, which showed revenues had only dropped by 2%, to £1.14 billion. Katz disputed there was a commissioning “freeze” but said the network was commissioning as a “much slower place.”
“I wrote to all our suppliers a few weeks back, explaining that through the summer and into the start of the autumn we would largely only be commissioning current affairs and some of the young strands we’ve seen like 4.0 and Untold and that is the case,” Katz said. “And then in September we will brief fully on what we’re looking for as we go into 2024 and beyond.”
Also worrying producers is the U.K. government’s decision to allow Channel 4 – a privately funded U.K. public broadcaster – to begin producing content in-house. Mahon said the network was waiting to see what conditions the Department for Culture, Media and Sport might propose as part of the move before commenting on what its plans were. “We want to make sure that there is no unintended shock to the sector,” Mahon said. “We also want to make sure that we continue to get the best creative ideas for viewers and that we’ve got the best content on air. That means we need a broad range of suppliers, but we’ll also take our role really quite seriously as being here to help support the industry and ensure that it’s a success story globally.”
“So I think we can’t work out how we’re going to do it until we get conditions from government,” she added. “And we’re not in a rush because we need to do it properly. I think it’s something that we would start small and grow over time.”
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