News
Barclays launches £100m UK TV production fund
B
arclays Bank has launched a £100
million (€117m) fund to provide UK TV
production companies improved access
to finance and enhance their ability to compete
internationally. The fund, the first of its kind
from a major UK bank, has been established,
says the bank, with new, innovative financing
products that have been designed
to meet the evolving needs of the
TV sector.
The rise in popularity of SVoD
(streaming video on demand)
services led the Barclays Media
team to consider how it could
improve the types of funding
provided to better support its
TV clients. Conventional TV
production loans are repaid as
the content is delivered with the
broadcaster paying the production
company and funder simultaneously. With
SVoD, revenues are often spread over a much
longer term, which can present funding
challenges.
As a result, the Barclays Media team
recognised that the nature of its loan structure
had to change, so as part of the new £100
million fund they developed Barclays SVoD
Financing to more closely match the funding
requirements of companies working with
SVoD distributors. The product allows these
companies to borrow money over a longer
period, enabling them to use the funds to
develop more ideas and programmes, which in
turn supports more sustained employment and
helps them to grow more quickly. It also means
Cannes Series
Festival launches
The town of Cannes, MIP
organiser Reed MIDEM
and broadcaster Canal+
to launch Cannes Series, a
Festival showcasing the best
international TV series. The
inaugural event is scheduled
to take place in April 2018
wrapped around the existing
MIPTV market.
At a briefing event at MIPTV
2017, David Lisnard, Mayor
of Cannes and Vice President
of the Alpes-Maritimes
Department, stressed the
suitability of Cannes to host
the project, given its heritage,
location, facilities and
infrastructure.
The event, which will
encourage public participation,
8 EUROMEDIA
that broadcasters and SVoD distributors can
manage their cashflow more efficiently.
Lorraine Ruckstuhl, head of media at
Barclays Corporate Banking said: “The creative
industries in the UK are world famous due
to the range and quality of content they
produce. The TV industry specifically is in a
really exciting place and is evolving at pace,
with more than 250,000 people in the UK
employed in the sector. We’ve been supporting
TV production with a dedicated Media team
for over 30 years, and know that to meet the
needs of our clients we have to adapt with
them and with the viewing habits of the
public. That’s why we created this fund and
developed Barclays SVoD Financing, to help
UK SMEs continue to compete both in the
UK and internationally, support increased
employment, and create even more great
programmes.”
One of the first companies to benefit from
the new fund is Roughcut Television, the
UK’s leading independent comedy production
will highlight ten hitherto un
broadcast series, covering
all territories, all durations
and lengths and all broadcast
platforms. There will be a
Grand Jury Prize, a Prix du
Public and a short-form digital
series competition.
Lisnard is joined as co-
founder by Fleur Pellerin,
former French Minister of
Culture and Communication,
company responsible for bringing shows
such as Trollied, Cuckoo and People Just do
Nothing to our screens.
The new funding through Barclays SVoD
Financing involved the bank purchasing
Roughcut’s Netflix receivable, giving the
company the upfront cash benefit of the
multi-year contract for the streaming
of their BAFTA-nominated comedy
Cuckoo.
Roughcut’s commercial director
Tim Sealey said: “Netflix are
notorious for paying over a long
period, our arrangement with
Barclays enabled us get access to the
cash much earlier which meant that
we could put it to work by investing
in further development. Another
side benefit is that it improves our
relationship with the writers and
artists as they get their royalties quicker too.”
Barclays was the first UK bank to set up a
dedicated Media team in 1986, and was also
the first to develop the three-way lending
structure that brings together the broadcaster,
the production company and the bank to
allow productions to be funded via a bank
loan. The establishment of the £100 million
TV fund and innovative SVoD product are the
latest examples of how the bank continues to
adapt its propositions to meet the needs of
the TV industry. In addition to Barclays SVoD
Financing, the team has a range of lending
options for TV companies of all sizes, from
vanilla production based loans, to Revolving
Credit Facilities for larger businesses.
who will take the role of
President of the Association of
the Cannes International Series
Festival.
Both Lisnard and Pellerin
stressed the links with training
and the industry to foster
talent and promote creativity,
including a writers’ residency,
university training programme
and creative workshops.
Paul Zilk, Reed MIDEM CEO,
noted that since the first
edition of MIPTV in 1965,
“thousands of programmes
have been distributed here in
Cannes,” suggesting it was
“the right time in the right
place” to launch Cannes Series.
Maxime Saada, CEO
Canal+ Group, confirmed
the broadcaster would be an
exclusive festival partner, and
welcomed the association with
MIPTV, suggesting that “there
is no festival in the world that
works without a market”.
Benoît Louvet, a former
senior executive at French
commercial broadcaster TF1,
has been appointed Festival
Managing Director. Initial
reports are that the new event
has a €4 million budget and is
likely to begin two days before
MIPTV 2018 gets under way.