Sue Clothier of Northern Pictures attended The World Congress of Scientific and Factual Producers 2011, in Paris 27 November - 3 December 2011 

The Congress is in relative terms a small focused market attracting quality producers and broadcasters who are regular Congress attendees.  The location of the Congress in France meant there was a good representation of European and based broadcasters who may not travel as frequently to the southern hemisphere.  This years Congress had a wide selection of hosted and interactive sessions as well as information sessions with key broadcasters.  The Congress could be described as a venue for premium stakeholders.  This year an additional 100 delegates attended over 2010.

Market Trends

Reaching out to the Net Generation or Generation Y (also known as Digital Natives), requires new ways of re-packaging old stories across a number of platforms.  This might mean using humour to convey the information; for instance a presenter might be a comedian.  Another example might be the highly successful BBC show, Horrible Histories.  It’s an energetic, surprising and unconventional take on history's most gruesome, unpleasant yet funniest moments.  This style of humour has often been described as “python-esque”.  In a lighter moment .... presented 4 Georges - Born 2 Rule  BBC Proms 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al1zdtfAnG8

Documentaries about the brain often deal with damaged brains, autism, epilepsy or genius.  Brain Games – Nat Geo looks at normal brains. It illustrates the minor miracles required to pay attention and form memories because our brains run on just 12 Watts of power.  That makes us highly susceptible to trickery, as it only allows us to concentrate on one thing at a time.  Using up to twenty games per hour, magician Apollo Robins utilizes the inherent single-mindedness of the brain to great effect. Brain Games may well be described as “edutainment” - half educational documentary and half interactive:  http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/national-geographic-channel/specials-1/brain-games/ngc-brain-games-pay-attention.html

In another session the question was asked “Are program makers youth obsessed or should we direct more effort to the older group”?  For the BBC, viewers over 55 are incredibly important.  This year, the average age of the BBC One viewer is 53; the average age of the BBC Two viewer is 54.  The Factual viewer is actually slightly older again at 56 and 57 respectively.  Figures for Discovery’s factual programming were somewhat different.  The high rating Deadliest Catch has a median age of 43 years.  Gold Rush - 44 and American Chopper - 40.

Discovery takes the view that curiosity is a better pitch than knowledge.  To avoid complacency amongst younger audiences, shows have to move faster, BUT younger people aren’t necessarily watching TV.  Older audiences, on the other hand are more forgiving - perhaps more rusted on.

There seemed to be a divide between the US Discovery/Nat Geo networks, making what might be considered soft science.  More serious undertakings are happening across the Atlantic, especially by the national broadcasters.

Although the interest in 3D programming was not quite the same as last year, there was some highly significant material. This includes Arte’s 90-minute 3D documentary entitled Le relief d’une côte, an aerial view of the 3,000 km of France coastline. Four cameras on an Ecureuil helicopter for the shoot.

Gedeon Programmes is currently producing the first adventure film in 3D for Canal+.  The shooting of this exceptional adventure 90-minute film the Lost World Adventurers (a two month shoot with 80 crew), took place in the unexplored Maskay region of Madagascar. 

Anthony Geffen, CEO and Creative Director at Atlantic Productions, showed clips from a 3D series, which explores the plant life at Kew Gardens - presenter, Sir David Attenborough.  It includes some spectacular macro time-lapse photography.  Atlantic Productions focuses on producing innovative, high quality programmes for leading broadcasters in the UK and around the world.

The Cosmic Shore - NHK. The unique vantage from the International Space Station affords a vista both breathtaking and scientifically illuminating. Until recently, reduced lighting conditions at night, combined with insufficiently perceptive equipment, made some of the most beautiful views difficult to capture. This changed with the arrival of the Super Sensitive High Definition camera on the space station. With the SS-HDTV, the crew can document new and more detailed footage of the dynamic interactions that take place in the area between the Earths' atmosphere and the vacuum of space, known as the cosmic shore.

Tne of the most talked about documentaries was Mummifying Allan: Egypt’s Last Secret. It was discussed in a session called Extreme TV - Is That what it Takes.  The documentary pushes the filming taboos relating to death and cadavers.  It’s an example of our increasing disconnectedness with death.  It puts the spotlight on what is now considered to be “good taste”.  We may see more of these so-called “shock docs” in the future.

 Other highlights from the sessions include:

Life in a Day  - a crowd sourced documentary film comprising an arranged series of video clips selected from 80,000 clips submitted to the You Tube, the clips showing respective occurrences from around the world on a single day, July 24, 2010.  The film is 94 minutes 57 seconds long and includes scenes selected from 4,500 hours of footage in 80,000 submissions from 192 nations.  The film was produced by a creative partnership that included Ridley Scott.

Utilising exclusive footage captured by NHK and amateur videos, much of it never broadcast before, Surviving the Tsunami provides a comprehensive look at the destructive power of the catastrophic tsunami and remarkable tales of human survival.  Minutes after the earthquake, NHK's cameras in the Tohoku region were rolling, on ground and from the air.  In one case NHK’s helicopter took off from an airport minutes before the tsunami arrived. NHK turned the program around in just 12 days and the documentary also provided a scientific explanation of the tsunami.   NHK has made the documentary available, for free, to television networks around the world.  

Benefits

The benefits of attending the Congress or any international marketplace event are having the mix of both information based sessions and the critical opportunity to advance projects.  If you don’t keep up with trends and understand them respond appropriately to the challenges in the wider marketplace it is impossible for an independent producer to have long term business sustainability.