{"id":588894,"date":"2023-08-28T12:56:09","date_gmt":"2023-08-28T09:56:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/meet-the-man-betting-big-on-fremantles-scripted-strategy\/"},"modified":"2023-08-28T12:56:09","modified_gmt":"2023-08-28T09:56:09","slug":"meet-the-man-betting-big-on-fremantles-scripted-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/meet-the-man-betting-big-on-fremantles-scripted-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"#Meet the Man Betting Big on Fremantle\u2019s Scripted Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Thomas Rabe was born in tiny Luxembourg, the mini-nation squeezed in between France, Germany and Belgium. But when it comes to business, as CEO of pan-European broadcast giant RTL Group and chairman and CEO of RTL\u2019s parent, global media<\/a> conglomerate Bertelsmann, Rabe likes to think big. <\/p>\n

\n At an RTL shareholders\u2019 meeting back in August 2021, Rabe dropped a bombshell: Fremantle, RTL\u2019s production division, making of entertainment formats like X Factor<\/em> and American Idol <\/em>and already one of the biggest independent TV producers in the world, was about to get a lot bigger. In four years, Rabe said, Fremantle would boost revenue by a cool $1.1 billion (\u20ac1 billion) to hit a new revenue target of $3.3 billion (\u20ac3 billion) by 2025.<\/p>\n

\n RTL gave Fremantle the cash to pump into M&A expansion, fueling a buying spree that has seen the company spend more than a quarter of a billion dollars in the past three years snatching up independent companies, including Ireland\u2019s Element Pictures, producers of Normal People<\/em> and Oscar-winner The Favourite<\/em>; Italy\u2019s Lux Vide, producers of Netflix\u2019s Medici<\/em>, and Abot Hameiri, the Isreal group behind hit Shtisel<\/em>. And many, many more. <\/p>\n

\n The push took Fremantle out of its comfort zone in non-script<\/a>ed entertainment and into the riskier business of drama and scripted production, including independent film, backing productions from the likes of Pablo Sorrentino (The Hand of God<\/em>), Luca Guadangino (Bones and All<\/em>) and Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things<\/em>). As well as documentaries: Last year Fremantle took a majority stake in 72 Films, producers of BBC documentary series<\/a> The Elon Musk Show<\/em>, and Wildstar Films, who produce National Geographic\u2019s America\u2019s National Parks<\/em>. <\/p>\n

\n It has also transformed Fremantle into a global drama juggernaut, earning the company the inaugural honor of being named The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>\u2018s 2023 international producer of the year. <\/p>\n

\n In an email interview with THR<\/em>, Rabe explains why RTL is still betting big on Fremantle, how drama fits into the company\u2019s global strategy, and what links indie film and American Idol<\/em>: \u201cPremium content and storytelling are at Fremantle\u2019s core.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n You are investing heavily in expanding Fremantle\u2019s business and have very ambitious goals for the division \u2014 a $3.24 billion<\/strong> (\u20ac3 billion) turnover target by 2025. What is behind this strategy of doubling down on film and TV content production at this time?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n Content is the lifeblood of RTL Group, as it drives audiences in broadcasting and streaming. We spend more than $2.16 billion (\u20ac2 billion) on content every year, in addition to the Fremantle productions. Fremantle is one of the world\u2019s largest creators, producers and distributors of scripted and unscripted content. Our target to reach 3 billion Euros in revenue by 2025 is ambitious. To achieve it, we are committed to investing across entertainment, drama and film, and documentaries \u2013 both organically and via acquisitions.<\/p>\n

\n Last year, Fremantle completed eight acquisitions, including Italian fiction producer Lux Vide, film and drama production company Element Pictures, and documentary producers 72 Films and Wildstar Films. Alongside acquisitions, partnering with world-class storytellers and international talent is key to Fremantle\u2019s success. In the past two years, Fremantle has signed agreements with Angelina Jolie, Michael Winterbottom, Richard Brown and Edward Berger.<\/p>\n

\n As a result, last year Fremantle\u2019s revenue grew by 22 percent to more than $2.5 billion (\u20ac2.3 billion) \u2013 a record level and a major step towards the $3.24 billion (\u20ac3 billion) mark.<\/p>\n

\n What role do you see Fremantle playing compared to the \u201cnational media champions\u201d approach of RTL\u2019s streaming and broadcast businesses?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n Expanding our global content business Fremantle and our national streaming services are key to our growth strategy. Fremantle\u2019s expansion into scripted has helped to establish partnerships with streamers around the world, which in 2022 accounted for more than 15 percent of Fremantle\u2019s revenue. To replicate this success in documentaries, Fremantle has established a new global documentary division, acquired documentary production companies and set up its own premium documentary label: Undeniable.<\/p>\n

\n Importantly, Fremantle\u2019s flagship entertainment formats continue to be successful. In the first half of 2023, for example, Fremantle formats America\u2019s Got Talent<\/em> and American Idol<\/em> significantly outperformed prime-time averages of the respective TV networks in the US. In the UK, Fremantle produces the country\u2019s two leading entertainment shows: The Apprentice<\/em> and Britain\u2019s Got Talent<\/em>. In Germany, Fremantle\u2019s production company UFA produces successful formats for RTL Deutschland\u2019s linear TV channels, such as the long-running talent show Deutschland sucht den Superstar<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\n Overall, in the last years, Fremantle has become an even stronger, more creative and more diverse global content powerhouse \u2013 both in terms of geographic footprint and output across entertainment, drama & film and documentaries.<\/p>\n

\n In addition to the core business of non-scripted television Fremantle has expanded its drama, documentary and even film production. What is the strategic appeal of these typically lower-margin, higher-risk businesses \u2013 particularly independent film \u2013 for Fremantle?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n Premium content and storytelling are at Fremantle\u2019s core \u2013 whether entertainment, drama or documentaries.\u00a0In 2022, Fremantle generated 35 percent of its total revenue from drama and film productions, with adequate returns. <\/p>\n

\n Fremantle\u2019s drama and film productions have been rewarded by multiple awards. In the past two years, The Hand of God <\/em>was nominated for an Oscar, Bones and All<\/em> won two awards at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, and\u00a0The Eight Mountains<\/em> was awarded at the 2022 Festival de Cannes. Fremantle has five titles in competition at this year\u2019s Venice Film Festival.<\/p>\n

\n In documentaries, notable examples are Arctic Drift<\/em>, which won multiple awards and will return with a sequel before the end of the year, and Shadow of Truth <\/em>(from Israel-based label Silvio Productions), which was acquired by Netflix and has just aired on the BBC in the UK.<\/p>\n

\n Scripted is arguably more risky, and more capital intensive. But it is key for partnering with top creatives, expanding the relationship with streamers around the world and creating library value.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thomas Rabe was born in tiny Luxembourg, the mini-nation squeezed in between France, Germany and Belgium. But when it comes to business, as CEO of pan-European broadcast giant RTL Group and chairman and CEO of RTL\u2019s parent, global media conglomerate Bertelsmann, Rabe likes to think big. At an RTL shareholders\u2019 meeting back in August 2021,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":588895,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.hollywoodreporter.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/Thomas-Rabe-RTL-CEO-Publicity-H2023.jpg?w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[137171,124783,139166],"class_list":["post-588894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa","tag-fremantle","tag-international","tag-rtl-group"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588894\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588895"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}