Finding the pulse of the production industry

There are few industries as disrupted by digital innovation than the media and production industries. From mobile to on-demand, consumer habits and new technologies have transformed how we consume and create the latest must-watch series. From Game of Thrones to Line of Duty, to the BBC, ITV or HBO, there is no corner of the industry untouched by digital and web technologies.

We have switched from sitting down at eight o’clock on a Friday night to watch the next episode, to binge-watching on our tablet or phone on the way to work each morning. We want what we want when we want it, not when we are told it is going to be available. This demanding cultural shift has stretched production teams to produce content for new devices in new formats and to get creative with the production process.

“We surveyed around 30 new content creators about 18 months ago,” explains Mark Harrison, Managing Director at Digital Production Partnership (DPP), the business network for the media industry. “We wanted to find out whether these new companies would adopt a more traditional TV production culture or find their own ways. We found that they established a distinctive culture of their own.”

“When you look deeply at what we found, the core differences centred around the relationships with clients and audiences,” continues Mark. “They tended to use the phrase: mixture of art and science. These were creative entities – but they were highly focused on the algorithms for consumer engagement with their output.”

This new model and more direct approach to market is shortening the supply chain and cutting out intermediaries in the production industry. “There are now creative companies that are so effective in understanding the audience relationship that major content providers are looking to them to provide that service on their behalf,” says Mark. “This is a big change to a well-established market.”

“It got us thinking about it more broadly,” says Mark. “What else is happening in the production industry? We wanted to explore deeper and understand, in more definitive terms, just what exactly is happening across production. For example, is this shift to a more direct model being replicated by the television production community? Or, have they found a different model entirely? Just what are the success factors for making audio visual content today?”

“That is why we are launching a new survey, The Production Business, 2018 that will help us find the answers to these questions and no doubt raise many more,” says Mark. “We are excited to take a look inside this creative industry as it evolves and adapts to changing pressures and opportunities in the modern media market.”

If you are responsible for running a company in the production industry and would like to take part in the DPP survey, simply email will@willstrauss.co.uk. The results are expected to be released in April of 2018 and all those that take part will receive a complimentary copy of the report.