BANFF – When I first started going to the Realscreen Summit in Washington DC, almost 12 years ago, it was documentary Mecca. Today, Realscreen is a Kasbah of reality shows and ever more wacky non-scripted formats.
Non-fiction then was not what non-fiction has become.
That display of disparity was starkly evident at Banff this week. On the one hand, non-fiction format gurus and their kindred broadcasters had a good yak about what ails them, and the challenges of producing Big Brother Canada on a continent awash in Big Brother, the American original. On the other hand, Canada's National Film Board was projecting a far different picture of where non-fiction, in particular the documentary, should be headed.
Not that I'm a reality TV snob.
I think Duck Dynasty’s Si gets it just right when he says "I live by my own rules (reviewed, revised, and approved by my wife), but still my own!" The reality is that Canada has never had so many non-scripted formats on the go, and going toe to toe in some cases with original U.S. versions. Just think Big Brother, Idol, Amazing Race, Housewives, etc.
Some Canadian producers and broadcasters are fortunate enough to conjure up the angel dust to create something truly original too. Here I'm thinking of what the CBC and Insight Productions did with Battle of The Blades which is firmly embedded in Canadian DNA. And for reality shows everywhere, but perhaps most critical for Canada nuzzled to The Behemoth along the 49th parallel, we have to rely on superb casting to compete. So, luckily for Shaw Media, there really are housewives like that in Vancouver.
Americans will likely always be able to outspend and out market our versions, but we seem to succeed in countering with our own cultural hues like diversity, a more liberal approach to sexual orientation, and a sincere longing for visible and audible differences. Just think about what happened with Big Brother Canada when the gay, cross-dressing character was voted out… he promptly got voted back indoors by an audience that found him fun and sincere. Would not happen in USA, folks.
Also, the next generation of Canada's Amazing Race will feature a Canuck Olympic medallist as host: sledder and noted beer drinker Jon Montgomery, not a bright-toothed TV personality.
Of course there's good and bad in the above.
Successful American formats travel, and Paul Gilbert, senior vice-president international formats of CBS, claims Next Top Model has been in 22 countries for the last eight years. But there will not be many markets for the CBC's Blades format outside of Northern Europe and Russia, which both have established hockey stars.
Realistically too, every format, even a successful American one, has limits. For example, who among us wants to go find the cast for Mob Wives in Russia?
One interesting revelation, to me anyway, is the growing side business in tweets. With digital now a booming part of every reality show package, there is an actual commercial play in "how many tweets can you get me,” and “what is their brand quality?" For example, celebrity music tweets for the Junos by Leonard Cohen might fetch $10,000, a Hollywood or Nashville star maybe as much as $50,000, and Prime Minister Harper possibly $5,000… I know what you're thinking.
Speaking of public service, our NFB has veered away from being a knock off version of anything. Led by Tom Perlmutter, these folks have concluded that there's no more money in Ottawa. While the private sector bemoans the devaluing of analog dollars to digital pennies, the NFB has decided to become a global, joint venture digital leader.
In a private-public partnership, the NFB will launch a beta site this autumn for a worldwide subscription SVOD service featuring, wait for it, documentaries! With 1.25 billion people around the world watching 200 factual online videos per month, or an average of about 20 hours a week, these National Film Board execs think they may have stumbled into the motherload.
What I think the NFB is doing here is building on its established digital video relationships with newspapers like The New York Times and The Guardian, plus the NFB's recent business history with Samsung, Google, BlackBerry and Apple. To that, Tom and his enterprising crew are adding new partnerships with the likes of OpenDoc at MIT, then leveraging the $45 million to date investment in NFB.ca into a mega roll of the dice.
Risky, gutsy and laudable in my books. Thirty-five percent of smartphones in the world download video; HotDocs bought a movie theatre in Toronto and has been close to packed every night; PBS gets 1,700 great documentary pitches a year but only has space for 17; Netflix charges $8 per month but the NFB will charge $5; and the list goes on for these public service privateers.
In fact, I've often wondered why IMAX wasn't paying some kind of minimal economic rent to the NFB which developed and trained that company for success. But perhaps I digress.
In short, the NFB isn't waiting for America to prove something works then imitate it. However, as autumn approaches I will be keen to see the details of this business plan. So far the NFB stake seems limited to a share of the $10-15 million in upfront capitalization costs, in exchange for a break-even no later than year two based on 200,000 subscribers worldwide (Netflix has 1 million-plus in Canada and 30 million in the U.S.).
And if our NFB can generate profits while re-thinking the global design and discoverability of the documentary online, mobile and interactive… Well, I think John Grierson would heartily approve.
Former ZoomerMedia TV president and CEO Bill Roberts is covering the Banff World Media Festival as a reporter/commentator for Cartt.ca.
