The vibe check
Forget trying to chase the next big streaming trend. Steve Matthews, the head of scripted and creative at global powerhouse Banijay Entertainment, is lowkey over the idea that you can just 'manufacture' a hit. With 170 labels across 25 different countries, Banijay has massive scale, but Matthews says the secret sauce isn't algorithms—it's writers.
At the Iberseries & Platino Industria event, the industry heavyweights basically agreed: if you walk into a room and say, 'let's make a commercial show,' you’ve already failed. It’s giving desperate energy, and audiences can tell when a project feels like it was cooked up in a corporate lab.
Protecting the creative vision
The goal for Banijay is to maintain a huge global footprint without stifling the unique creative identities of the smaller labels they own. Matthews shared that they run twice-yearly boot camps to help upskill writers and producers, especially as traditional development schools in Europe have faded away.
Producers like Maria Grazia Vairo of Italy’s Groenlandia and Carolina Bang of Spain’s Pokeepsie Films are leaning into this talent-first approach. For Bang, it’s all about genuine passion. She famously started leaning into young-adult storytelling after she just straight-up loved the books her younger family members were reading. As she put it, 'If you have in mind to have a success, you will not have it.'
Why it matters
Real talk: the TV landscape is getting super crowded and commissioners are becoming way more selective. Matthews acknowledged that there's less work to go around, but he believes the squeeze is actually a W for viewers. It forces the industry to stop churning out generic content and start backing projects with actual soul. If you’re making something for the love of the story, you’ve got a better shot at sticking the landing than if you’re just chasing a hashtag.
