Sky Content Chief Touts Collaboration With NBCUniversal, “Increased” Global Demand for Larger Shows
Sky U.K., part of Comcast-owned European media and technology giant Sky, touted its programming slate for the year at its annual “Up Next” event at Protein Studios in Shoreditch, London on Thursday evening, with Cécile Frot-Coutaz, CEO of Sky Studios and chief content officer, lauding a “fantastic lineup for 2024.”
Sky has continued to double down on original content under Comcast’s ownership. “2024 is a year where you really see the results of the investments,” Frot-Coutaz said, touting “the level of ambition.” “It’s really now paying off, and that’s the case across all genres.”
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She mentioned such upcoming shows as Mary & George, starring Julianne Moore, The Tattooist of Auschwitz, starring Harvey Keitel, and The Day of the Jackal, starring Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch, as well as the upcoming film Lee, which tells the story of Lee Miller, a former-model-turned-war-photographer. Kate Winslet stars in it and also serves as a producer.
“We really try to offer something for everybody in the household,” the executive emphasized. And those originals “sit very comfortably alongside the content that we get from our partners,” Frot-Coutaz explained, highlighting that this year will bring Sky such hit movies as Barbie, Oppenheimer and Wonka.
The Sky content boss also discussed the benefits of being part of Comcast, saying that Sky is “working increasingly together” with NBCUniversal. This “helps us when it comes to financing the new shows,” she said, but “it goes both ways.” Explained Frot-Coutaz: “It’s both in terms of helping us finance this amazing content through the global platforms, the global distribution company, but also getting their content to Sky customers.”
How global is her team’s focus? It is commissioning content “first and foremost for British audiences” and Sky customers. But with the likes of The Day of the Jackal, Mary & George and The Tattooist of Auschwitz “we’ve seen a lot of demand for our shows internationally,” meaning they will increasingly go global, Frot-Coutaz said. “They’re great and frankly better than [what] a lot of the other big markets are making – personal opinion. But we definitely feel the increased demand for some of our larger, more technical shows to travel.”
Discussing Jackal, the Sky executive said, “that’s going to be a massive show for us,” adding: “This is probably one of the most ambitious or large-scale production that we’ve mounted. It’s an epic action thriller.” It will launch on NBCUniversal’s Peacock in the U.S. and Sky in the U.K.
Sky recently unveiled it was bringing all of its non-sports content teams in the U.K. and Ireland under one leadership structure, led by Cécile Frot-Coutaz. Previously CEO of Sky Studios, she added the chief content officer title, expanding her role to become CEO Sky Studios and chief content officer. Bennett remains responsible for Sky’s output and performance in the U.K. and Ireland, “leading Sky Entertainment, Sky Cinema and Sky Kids, along with commissioning for factual, entertainment, arts, kids and film as well as acquisitions across Sky Group,” but now reports directly to Frot-Coutaz.
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