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Remember that bombshell ABC Studios memo leaked to me that was a blatant blueprint for ripping off foreign format ideas? Well, now UK television producers and executives are slamming it and also investigating it. The Guardian newspaper today reported that the UK producers' trade body "Pact" was "looking into it". Giving me a shout-out, the paper said the memo is being circulated around UK independent producers who fear it may signal a shift in the "modus operandi" between producers and broadcasters. The paper noted that UK producers, such as BBC Worldwide and RDF Media, do huge amounts of business with ABC, with shows like Supernanny, Wife Swap and Dancing With The Stars all airing on the network. (See my previous, Bombshell ABC Studios Memo Is Blatant Blueprint To Rip Off Foreign TV Series.)
UK TV Producers Slam ABC Studios Memo
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You go Nikke! Kudos to you for stirring up an international incident. LOL! I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you need to stop covering this silliness (I know it’s not, Hollywood is one of our major economic engines) and go back to political reporting. Or maybe be Obama’s press secretary.
“UK producers, such as BBC Worldwide and RDF Media, do huge amounts of business with ABC, with shows like Supernanny, Wife Swap and Dancing With The Stars all airing on the network.”
Yeah, well they were lucky to have gotten paid for any of those shows AT ALL. Reality show concepts are even harder to win infringement claims on. Why do you think Fox has been able to throw Nanny 911, Trading Spouses, and The Next Great Champ on the air and never gotten sued?
“The only ‘ism’ that Hollywood believes in is Plagiarism.” – Dorothy Parker
Well, Mike’s correct, but if you buy the rights to a hit foreign show, you get to use their step-by-step format, set design, etc., and the chances are higher that the show will be successful here too rather than trying to reinvent the wheel and reverse engineering it.
But to tell you the truth, if you get a hit as big as American (Pop) Idol, there’s plenty of money to be made for everyone!
“Yeah, well they were lucky to have gotten paid for any of those shows AT ALL” – MIke
Who wants to do business with someone who says crap like that?
Paul
The Beeb gains a substantial amount of its revenues from its Worldwide branch (the DOCTOR WHO franchise is its most successful cash cow) in an uneasy context. So we can imagine their reaction after the leak of the memo, especially when the reaction to its summer line-up of fictions is rather mixed.
Fox seems to be clever and made a deal with the ITV network to share formats and develop new series together with local versions for both side of the ocean.
Please note one of the most dynamic and interesting UK production companies, Shine, was founded by the daughter of Rupert Murdoch and owns Kudos (MI-5,HUSTLE…), the ITC Entertainment of the 21st century.
Personally I’ll follow all this affair with the highest interest. Good job as usual, Nikki, thanks…
They’re going to investigate, and I’ll bet dullards to doughnuts that they’re also planning to litigate if anything on any ABC show bears a passing resemblance to anything they do. And whether or not they have a legitimate case, that memo’s going to be some heavy ammo for them.
And the lessons here:
1. Don’t do anything that can get you sued into the stone age.
2. If you do something that can get you sued, DON’T WRITE DOWN INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO DO IT.
Damn, Hollywood needs some brains.
“Yeah, well they were lucky to have gotten paid for any of those shows AT ALL” – MIke
“Who wants to do business with someone who says crap like that?” Paul
Everyone in Hollywood is here and doing business with people who say that every day.
Ask any agent in town.
they spend half their lives just chasing money for clients.
I think you have to look at the ABC comment in context. I’m sure the motivating factor was Roman’s Empire, and it was with that rather bizarre acquisition in mind that I first read the memo. Rather than ‘see what we can nick’ I read it as ‘don’t pay money unless there is something of substance we can actually use’. Roman’s Empire ran for just six episodes, and once you strip out all the distinctly British cultural aspects and the material a bit too near the knuckle for ABC audiences there really isn’t much left beyond the most generic of ideas.
I’d be interested to know if there was anyone familiar with Roman’s Empire who didn’t translate the memo the same way.
Reelbusy
“Everyone in Hollywood is here and doing business with people who say that every day.”
Only people who will be selling real estate or insurance in five years after being canned do business with people whose primary objective is to screw other people. There are enough people with IP and enough people with money making equitable deals every day. You can ask any partner at those same agencies in town.
Paul