As part of MipLondon 2025, the panel “The reality of IP financing: find your way through the maze” was presented, where prominent industry representatives addressed the complexities of financing in an increasingly competitive and fragmented market. Roy Ashton (The Gersh Agency), Rob Howard (Universal International Studios) and Samantha McMillon (Quay Street Productions), moderated by Guy Bisson (Ampere Analysis), provided an overview that reflects the transformation of the audiovisual sector.
Samantha McMillon highlighted that the reduction in the number of commissioned hours has elevated competition, making it more difficult to access financing. “From the outset, the fact that the number of commissioned hours has decreased means that competition is more challenging, which means that funding is equally challenging,” she said. For her, the challenge lies in getting a “green microphone” both editorially and financially, stressing the need to start with a solid project that can open doors and generate market attention.
Roy Ashton emphasized the importance of solid financial backing. According to Ashton, once approval – or the “green microphone” – is obtained, part of the project’s equity begins to be lost, which means that strategic partners must be sought to bring the production to fruition. The executive highlighted the disparity in the figures, mentioning that in the United States million-dollar budgets are managed for productions that sometimes cost between 10 and 28 million dollars per episode, a reality that is far from the amounts that benefit the creative community.
Rob Howard, for his part, addressed the need to balance creativity and budget. For him, it is vital to deliver a product ‘on budget, creatively, on time’, which implies managing investment risk without sacrificing the vision of the writer or director. The executive also emphasized co-commissions and co-productions are increasingly common as demonstrated by Destination X, The Day of the Jackal and The Dream Lands as examples.
The panel concluded by highlighting the importance of seeking new co-production formulas and leveraging regional funds and “soft money” to counteract the concentration of capital in large streamers. Both the distribution community and producers face the challenge of adapting models that ensure the creative and financial viability of projects, in an environment where the success of a series or film increasingly depends on the ability to negotiate conditions that allow for fair and sustainable monetization.
