Federal

EXCLUSIVE: Last year, Deadline dove deep into RedBird IMI‘s plan to rouse its new sleeping giant, All3Media.

But 12 months on, things have been slow going, with little in the way of splashy M&A activity and consolidation aplenty, while All3Media’s federal model has been brought into question.

Insiders say the narrative from within All3Media’s London HQ was expected to be one of expansion but has instead felt more like consolidation, with key decisions like the closure of Hollyoaks producer Lime Pictures‘ London hub, along with layoffs at Cash Cab producer Lion TV US and All3Media Deutschland, being indicative of the group’s efforts to tighten its grip on costs and reduce duplication. The reality, as ever, is nuanced.

Last year’s acquisition of All3Media by Jeff Zucker and Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird IMI for £1.15B ($1.56M) was undoubtedly one of the biggest M&A deals in the TV production world for some years. The acquisition was supposed to unleash All3Media onto the buying market following a quiet first half of the decade. Over the past year, All3Media has launched two scripted vehicles in the form of George Kay’s Observatory Pictures and Clelia Mountford’s Sunburnt Penguin, but no one could argue that the group has broken the bank.

One senior All3Media insider said they were “surprised” that the super producer had not completed any major acquisitions since being acquired by RedBird IMI, adding that there was frustration that the group appeared to be back to where it was previously under former owners Warner Bros. Discovery and Liberty Global. “You’ve got two different shareholders and everyone has got to agree [on spending],” they added.

This feeling runs somewhat counter to the notion of rousing the giant, and to All3Media boss Jane Turton‘s MIPCOM keynote last October in which she appeared to signal fairly imminent M&A in the scripted space.

Speaking exclusively to Deadline, Turton said the super-indie, which owns The Tourist producer Two Brothers, 1917 maker Neal Street and The Traitors indie Studio Lambert, remains “permanently on the lookout for high quality, talent and IP rich businesses that could make exciting additions to the All3Media portfolio.” “The emphasis is always on the people in the companies, their IP and development slates, their reputation and track record and, most important, whether the combination will be a good fit and additive to both sides,” she said.

In its defence, All3Media rivals such as Banijay and Fremantle have also had a quiet year on the M&A front in what is clearly a sticky market. ITV Studios has been busier, having acquired Hartswood Films, Eagle Eye Drama and Moonage. By far and away the biggest M&A contest, that being the race to acquire See-Saw Films, was won by French giant Mediawan, with All3Media widely thought to have been in the running. This deal valued the Heartstopper producer at a lofty £100M.

All3Media launches Seamonster in development push

Rathe than splashy buys, some of All3Media’s recent activity has instead pointed to a new strategy of creating ‘feeder labels’, those that can develop ideas which can then be taken up by All3Media’s larger beasts like Studio Lambert or the newly-rebranded Objective Entertainment.

Deadline can reveal that All3Media has set up one such label called Seamonster under former Lime Pictures executives Mirella Breda and Sam Pollard, who have worked on hits including Big Brother, Total Wipeout and Release the Hounds down the years.

Seamonster is “dedicated to creating original, eye-catching and absorbing unscripted formats,” according to its website, and we understand its primary focus will be to develop and sell to buyers, rather than produce. In this way, All3Media might come a step closer to locating the next The Traitors, the hit Dutch format created by its IDTV label which is still dominating the formats game worldwide and is made by Studio Lambert in the UK and U.S. A celebrity version, which was one of the buzziest shows on display at august’s Edinburgh TV Festival, kicks off on the BBC next month.

Backing up this new approach to development, All3Media is opening a number of unscripted labels in the U.S. under Studio Lambert, the first being Jill Goslicky and Vivian Choi’s MindMeld, with more expected imminently. Lion TV US has, meanwhile, become what is effectively a development hub within All3Media America under remaining co-CEO Stan Hsue, who has been left with just a handful of remaining members of staff. All3Media America, which has not had a dedicated CEO based in the States since Tim Pastore exited five years ago, has long been viewed by industry observers as having the potential to win more business than it does. “On the West Coast, take away Stephen Lambert and it’s not a pretty picture,” said a former senior All3Media insider.

Federal model scrutinized

Connecting more of these labels to All3Media’s established players like the influential Studio Lambert represents an interesting shift and one that may fit oddly with the super-indie’s much-discussed federal model, which has been the bedrock of the group since it was founded more than two decades ago by British TV vets Steve Morrison, David Liddiment and Jules Burns.

That model sees Turton and her lieutenants take a lighter-touch approach to All3Media-owned indies than its rivals do – allowing creatives to get on with what they do best – but hidden deep in All3Media’s recent annual results document was a small section that appeared to place a question mark over this model.

The section signaled that RedBird IMI will “review performance of the UK on an aggregate basis rather than at an individual production company level” in future financials, with “results reported to shareholders by geographical split” rather than via each individual indie.

Eye-catchingly, it added that if there is an opportunity for an indie to produce a new show with a broadcaster, All3Media’s group management will decide which of its production outfits is “best placed to produce it” based on that outfit’s previous experience rather than “assigning the production to an underperforming [indie] to improve their individual results.”

Were this strategy to be put into practice across the board, which would effectively involve All3Media intervening over which indie produces which show, the ex-senior All3Media staffer told us it would represent “a big statement against the federal system.”

All3Media insiders stressed that this is not the case. We understand that the section in the results was a reference to three Lime Pictures shows, TOWIE, Celebs Go Dating and Geordie Shore, which were handed to stablemate Objective Entertainment when Lime’s London base was closed. This one-off move was part of the reason Lime’s value was written down by  £25M ($33M), which makes up part of the circa-£60M worth of write-downs that came in RedBird IMI’s first year in charge, another sign that the new owner is keeping a beady eye on costs and value.

Going forwards, All3Media insiders stressed that reallocating shows – which would fly in the face of the federal model – will in no way become the norm.

Turton has in fact spent the past couple of weeks throwing her weight behind the federal system. At an Edinburgh TV Festival session that was closed to press, we are told she passionately defended the approach as a “very supportive model.” “If you give people autonomy and allow them to make decisions and don’t second guess them, you get better people, people who have all the authority, space and scope they need,” she is understood to have said.

A few days after the session, she told Deadline: “We are proud of the business we’ve built with its very strong group of production labels, digital businesses, and integrated distribution company, All3Media International. Our federal model has great business leaders and teams within a portfolio and sitting in a supportive structure.”

Nevertheless, continued consolidation and outward pressure may mean speculation of this sort rolls on.

“Going back to the last year or two under [former owner David] Zaslav, it definitely felt like they were being more aggressive when it came to companies that were struggling or where they didn’t believe entirely in the leadership,” said the former senior insider quoted above.

As more time passes without a statement acquisition, pressure may start intensifying.