K7 Media

K7 Media

International TV execs to help Welsh indies

As featured on the Broadcast website 10 September 2014.

International TV executives from Nordic World and National Geographic are among those headed to the Welsh town of Portmeirion to help local indies sell their shows globally.

Nordic World’s Jan Salling, Nice Group’s Henrik Biskjaer and Ben Noot of National Geographic will share their knowledge at the two day International Markets 2014 Bootcamp which is scheduled to run from Thursday 20 November.

The event, which is hosted by Creative Skillset Cymru and delivered by K7 Media, will also include appearances from Chalkboard TV’s Ben Hall, former Core Media development consultant Clare Thompson and S4C chief executive Ian Jones.

The International Markets programme will provide ongoing expert advice and training.

Former Warner Brothers, Sony Pictures and BBC Worldwide exec Graham Spencer is to chair.

Along with networking sessions, delegates will hear about commissioning and funding opportunities from broadcasters including PBS, The CW, Foxtel and the Canada Film Fund.

A previous Bootcamp was held in 2012 and led to local indie Barefoot Rascals securing three international distribution deals. Barefoot Rascal’s Gordon Main said the deal was worth almost £100,000.

“The advances that we were given against our back catalogue – work that was already done – amounted to a sizeable chunk of our turnover last year and sales are doing well. Without international sales, it’s hard to see how we could have survived as a company”.

Rhidian Dafydd, project manager at Creative Skillset Cymru said the event was designed to help develop local creative talent.

“The International Markets programme will provide ongoing expert advice and training, which will give Welsh production companies a deeper understanding of global markets and increase our creative industries’ place on the global industry platform,” he added.

More details about the event, which is only open to local producers, is available here