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The details of the commercial deal are confidential, the parties said. As part of the deal, Washington says the studio will continue to operate as an independent label, bolstered by backing from the BBC outfit.
BBC Studios leads the BBC’s studio and streaming business, producing, investing and distributing content around the world. It has bases in the Nordics, India, South Africa, Germany, France, the US, and Australia, where it is in production for an Australian spin-off of Death in Paradise for the ABC, The Office Australia, set to air on Amazon Prime Video, and Mastermind for SBS, among other shows.
Established in 2018, BBC Studios drove more than £2 billion ($4.1 billion) in revenue in the most recent financial year through the licensing of content and intellectual property, particularly helped by the ABC co-created Bluey.
“Having the support of such a huge and fabulous company in BBC Studios just enables our continued growth,” says Werner. “We want to continue working with the best talent in Australia, and we want to be able to support them to tell the best stories.”
The federal government will this year introduce a bill to implement content quotas for major streaming services to reinvest into the local industry.
Critics of the bill say forcing the likes of Netflix and Disney+ to spend more in Australia could disrupt the industry’s ecosystem, in turn rising production costs for the ABC and other local players.
The more Australian stories being told the better, says Werner.
“I’m very hopeful that the real boom in Australian drama and programs that we’ve seen over the last few years is going to continue,” Werner says.
“It used to be that there were only a few doors that you could knock on […] and the more doors that you can knock on, the more opportunity we have for diversity of stories.”
Scandi noir had its time, she says, and the world took notice. Now it’s Australia’s turn.
“We feel that’s been gradually happening with Australian programs, and we really want to continue that trend.”
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