2018 was another interesting year for scripted series on digital platforms.
Jeffrey Katzenberg made headlines by raising over $1 billion to fund a new short-form scripted mobile platform, Quibi (short for Quick Bites apparently). The rationale? While mobile device usage has risen at an exponential rate, it’s the least watched platform for premium SVOD services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. Mr. Katzenberg plans to fill this void by creating a home for quality scripted short-form series, with episodes 10-15 minutes in length.
Facebook Watch, which finally launched in Canada this past summer, is also focused on short-form series, with episodes lengths of 5-10 minutes; and this past fall, Snapchat announced their global short-form scripted program, Snap Originals, with a slate of 12 short-form scripted shows and a mandate for more.
Yet along with these new initiatives, challenges remain.
Discoverability on the dominant digital platforms continues to be an issue. The exponential growth of content on YouTube and Facebook has created oversupply challenges, heavily impacting discoverability. Computer algorithms have become content king-makers. If you haven’t already, read the IPF’s “Be Discovered!” (Read Here), a how-to guide providing simple and practical tools to document content in order to be understood by search engines.
Of course, the IPF is already a leader in short-form scripted series having provided over $15 million in funding to 131 web series since 2010, including $2.3 million for 17 web series last year.
Plus, the Cogeco TV Production Program, made possible thanks to the BDU contributions of Cogeco Communications, moved under IPF leadership starting last year, allowing the IPF to support Canadian producers across all platforms.
Last year, I was honoured to be selected by the Board of Directors to succeed Charles Ohayon as chair of the fund and would like to thank Charles and our other board members for their incredible support and guidance over the past year.
The IPF’s status as a trailblazer in Canada will continue in 2019 as our board of directors and leadership team continue to evolve the fund to best support Canada’s creative production community in this seemingly ever changing entertainment environment.
Jon Taylor