{"id":164480,"date":"2025-12-02T15:19:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T15:19:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/164480\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T15:19:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T15:19:12","slug":"foxs-michael-thorn-on-uk-greenlights-partnering-on-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/164480\/","title":{"rendered":"Fox’s Michael Thorn On UK Greenlights & Partnering On Drama"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tFox<\/a> could be set to help the British drama industy turn \u201cblinking greenlights\u201d to \u201cfull greenlights,\u201d according to TV network boss Michael Thorn<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tThorn addresed the slowdown in British co-productions by telling a Content London<\/a> audience that the nature of the phone calls he has been receiving from potential partners has shifted over the past year to 18 months. <\/p>\n

\n\tSince moving further into the international space and launching sales arm Fox Entertainment<\/a> Global, Thorn said he has been \u201cgetting incoming phone calls saying, \u2018We have a blinking greenlight on dramas that need full financing\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe are an independent network and have to find the right project but the phone calls say that this show could work for us if we take North American rights and the blinking light becomes a full greenlight,\u201d he added. \u201cWe get a win of a brilliant drama, and they get full completion money going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAt the start of this year, what was termed by some as a scripted funding crisis beset the UK industry, with the BBC saying it had a number of projects stuck in limbo. That issue seems to have eased and shows are still receiving co-pro money but there is no doubt that it is harder to make drama than ever. Fox over the past couple of years has struck development deals with <\/a>Walter Iuzzolino\u2019s Eagle Eye and The Serial Killer\u2019s Wife\u00a0producer Clapperboard, while it is working on an adaptation of hit British sitcom The Kumars At No. 42.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\tThorn said the \u201cnumber one goal is to find breakout original content at any price point.\u201d He said his team differs immeasurably from former owner Disney. \u201cThey have a number of studios and an IP library going back to a black-and-white drawing of Mickey Mouse,\u201d he added. \u201cWe at Fox are starting over. We have an emerging studio, both scripted and unscripted, but no IP library. If our number one goal is creativity and a pipeline of originality, what we need are the best storytellers and partners, no matter where we find them, whether in L.A., or the U.S., or globally.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n\tThorn said the network \u201chas the ability to leverage our independence in a way that creates opportunities for indie studios and indie producers globally,\u201d as he sat on a panel next to All3Media boss Jane Turton<\/a> and Banijay UK chief Patrick Holland<\/a>. For Turton, funding has become a \u201cdirty word in a creative conversation.\u201d \u201cIt is the best way to de-risk,\u201d she added. \u201cYou go to a distribution partner and he goes with you on this journey of getting the program produced.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEbonyLife<\/a> goes global<\/p>\n

\n\tThe trio were joined by EbonyLife founder Mo Abudu<\/a>, who set out the thinking behind launching her EbonyLife ON Plus streamer globally<\/a>, which rolled out last month.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cNo one is beholden to anyone anymore,\u201d she added. \u201cYou can\u2019t control my audience, but I\u2019m now sat in a position where I can actually do that. It\u2019s local for global, it\u2019s enough for my niche even if it\u2019s not enough for larger corporations who haven\u2019t invested in that diverse content.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAbudu criticized these \u201clarger corporations\u201d for investing in diversity officers but not commissioning more than a \u201ccertain percentage\u201d of diverse content.<\/p>\n

\n\tAround 30% of EbonyLife\u2019s audience is coming from the diaspora, she revealed, which is \u201cgreat because a Black audience around the world is seeking content that speaks for them.\u201d Abudu said she is aiming for around two million to three million global subs to her streamer over the next five years, which she said shows a \u201cgradual\u201d approach that doesn\u2019t necessarily shoot for the stars.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a numbers game,\u201d she added. \u201cI don\u2019t have a private jet, I don\u2019t live in L.A., so I don\u2019t have the overheads of others.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tAbudu calls the service \u201ca complete lifestyle ecosystem\u201d that is built around five experience pillars dubbed \u2018Watch It\u2019, \u2018Learn It,\u2019 \u2018Shop It\u2019, \u2018Win It and \u2018Live It\u2019. For \u00a33 ($4) per month, members of the digital service are able to watch original films and series, take part in curated masterclasses, shop African fashion and art, enjoy exclusive rewards and participate in real-life events, all within one digital destination.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fox could be set to help the British drama industy turn \u201cblinking greenlights\u201d to \u201cfull greenlights,\u201d according to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":164481,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[107768,107769,107770,156,4131,35986,107771,35991,107772,111,139,69,107773,437,57964],"class_list":{"0":"post-164480","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-content-london","9":"tag-ebonylife","10":"tag-ebonylife-on-plus","11":"tag-entertainment","12":"tag-fox","13":"tag-fox-entertainment","14":"tag-jane-turton","15":"tag-michael-thorn","16":"tag-mo-abudu","17":"tag-new-zealand","18":"tag-newzealand","19":"tag-nz","20":"tag-patrick-holland","21":"tag-tv","22":"tag-tv-markets"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=164480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/164480\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/164481"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=164480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=164480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=164480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}