Isabelle Fauchet-Collier analyses the UK market for factual TV programming and gives advice to aspiring documentary makers on how to finance, pitch and sell their projects.

Article first published: Winter 2003

No matter which way you look at it, the road to documentary financing is a long and winding one. At best, seeking co-production or commissioning finance feels like firing shots in the dark, at worst like rejection is your middle name, and this is becoming a reality for all the well-established production houses out there too. This is not least because the television landscape is constantly in motion, affected most recently by the increasing number of new channels and by the fall in advertising revenues. This has influenced the way channels plan their programming and deflated the production budgets commissioners are allocating to each programme.

In the UK, the 80s saw the proliferation of independent production companies who sprung up to make programmes for the challenging new Channel 4. Getting a commission was relatively easy then. Now the funds allocated have halved, the remit is more middle-of-the-road and newcomers still find it difficult to be heard. BBC1 and BBC2 commissions remain largely the preserve of a few select companies, despite the efforts of the channel to ease the commissioning process and of the independent producers association PACT lobbying against the apparent closed shop. Channel 5 and the smaller digital, cable and satellites channels (including the new BBC channels) are better listeners, but their contributions are relatively modest.

On the international scene, independent producers have gone back to ‘school’ to hone their public-speaking skills in order to pitch their projects at international film and television festivals (Hot Docs in Canada, IDFA in Holland or Sunny Side in France, for instance). This daunting task is performed in front of a panel of the most sought-after commissioners around the world, including representatives from the BBC, ARTE/ZDF, France 3, YLE, CBC, Discovery and ARD. Occasionally producers also venture out to television markets MIPDOC, MIPTV and MIPCOM in Cannes, even though those are mostly ‘distribution’ events. An alternative to pitching is to send a proposal to commissioners by email or by post. Unfortunately this option usually involves a six-month to a year wait for a reply.

Whether the film is made for the domestic or the international markets, the biggest difficulty is that commissioners and independent producers often have different perspectives on what programmes should be made. Whereas for a producer or director the merits of a film lie mainly in its subject and approach, a commissioner is inclined to refer to its current scheduling strategy and to be mainly concerned with the ability of the film to hold its audience.

Finance-raising successes in the UK include Passion Pictures’ Live Forever, a film about Britain in the early/mid-90s when the country was deemed ‘cool’, Tony Blair’s New Labour hadn’t yet turned into a neo-Conservative party and young British artists were recognised the world over. The programme was financed in part by the BBC, therefore ensuring a broadcast on Nick Fraser’s BBC2 Storyville strand; in part by the Film Council, allowing a prior theatrical release (a somewhat rare occurrence for a British-made programme), and in part by tax-relief funding. Although the film is about Britain, it features characters known worldwide, which makes the film attractive to audiences in most parts of the world and easier for a major distributor to sell on.

A more international success at the other end of the financing spectrum is the 90-minute film The Iranian Journey produced by Noura Sakkaf and directed by Maysoon Pachachi. Although produced from the UK, the film found most of its finance abroad. German broadcaster ZDF put in the majority of the budget against a terrestrial broadcast in Germany and on ARTE in France, as well as two other European territories. A Beyrouth-based production company offered free use of filming equipment against a credit and a small British distribution company an advance on the international sales of the film. The film was shown at festivals around the world, won the Best Documentary prize at the Kalamata Film Festival in Greece and had a non-theatrical and educational distribution in the US.

National or international?

What makes a good pitch, where and how to meet commissioners and those who hold the money (tax relief agencies, distribution companies and funding organisations) depends very much on what type of factual programme you are making and whether it is aimed at a national or international audience.

Key to a successful pitch is a well-written proposal. This may sound obvious, but more often than not the proposal is what makes or breaks the project. Putting oneself in the channel’s shoes and ensuring that the pitch fits their slots gives the project a good start. Acquiring industry knowledge is useful in understanding how each broadcaster places itself on the market and what the new documentary ‘trends’ are. A strong track record of films, even if self-financed or made on a low budget, will give commissioners an idea of the production value they can expect. A strong subject and access to characters and locations are important too, but they alone are not enough to secure the interest of broadcasters. Questions they are likely to ask before they commit themselves are why should the film be made and why now. But most of all, sheer patience and determination will be needed as the development of both single documentaries and series can last anything from six months to a couple of years from the time the idea is put on paper.

Isabelle Fauchet Isabelle Fauchet Collier has 12 years’ experience in documentary development, financing and distribution. She has worked with British and French independent production companies developing documentaries. She was head of acquisitions for over three years at Electric Sky. She is now a freelance documentary consultant and MD of Embrionic Arts, an online service for international documentary producers.