What has IP Ever Done for us? And How to Match Your Product to IP Holders

[Music] so hi my name is chemin Jorge and as introduction said and I work for BBC Studios and I have to apologize and my colleague John isn't here as well he was going to give you some interesting stories and anecdotes about his experience working for Paramount previously and with kind of big IP like Star Trek and Top Gun I did debate whether to try and tell some of his stories myself forever I decided against it it's probably best I leave that so I'll just then really focus on what BBC Studios does and some of the IP we have I think in you know kind of right you mentioned obviously the dream for most

people was to have their you know their own IP and develop that out and continue to be able to exploit that but one other opportunity is obviously to acquire IP from you know kind of IP holders such as ourselves so BBC Studios we've been making TV content for over 50 years and we pride ourselves on kind of making the best British content with a commercial arm of the BBC group with the largest distributors of TV content outside of the US you know two major US studios and with the most awarded production company in the UK as well and hopefully you'll have heard of at least some of the kind of programs we make so you know kind of how how can you look at acquiring those IP and how would you assess those or you know kind of look to match your products to those IP so we're going to talk through a couple of examples of some of the IP we have and then you know kind of what what we you

know look for and when discussing opportunities with partners but Doctor Who is the first example it's about longest running sci-fi series and so it's been running for over 60 years now it has five million Facebook fans across 240 territories a billion views of its content on YouTube so you know this is a big global brand watched by families but also kind of especially with the new 13th doctor as well as really engaged young female fans as well so as an IP and you know I think there's a lot lot of value there but what would we look for when discussing this IP with potential partners well it's it's about understanding what the DNA of a brand is it's not just the numbers behind it but what makes it successful and then you know kind of what what would we be looking for so Doctor Who is all about brains over brawn you know you've got lots of you

know fight pee out there where you know there's all sorts of combat and shooting and all types of violence but Doctor Who is all about so solving problems using you know ingenuity and working together as a team now you know that can provide some interesting game mechanics given you know the right ideas of the right genre it's all about ventures that are across time and space and it's about you know kind of humor and half so again there's you know 60 years worth of stories there right for adaptation and hundreds of characters you know there's very few IP out there with such a ready-made you know kind of assembly of of characters and that's inclusive of an ever evolving hero and there's very few brands as well which written into the very foundations and corals of the IEP have a lead hero who continually changes

and that allows for some really interesting opportunities and for the brand to stay relevant and fresh and also timeless villains so you know the Daleks are iconic still to this day so you know we look for opportunities and in jamas and games which will you know showcase those characters but you know certain genres need that work that kind of really wide range of characters you know from you know card collection games or RPGs you know any games of those those nature a band like this would really work and you know the fact that it's an ongoing series you know you're gonna continue get that new set of content you know year in year out to keep your games fresh another example would be top gif so again you know a long-running series the Guinness Book of

Records for the most-watched factual TV program in the world still 350 million viewers globally across 200 countries so again it's that you know global you know kind of audience which these IP bring and top gear you know still very much for the male 1830s kind of petrol heads is you know kind of still really you know a big brand for them and then you know how would we match that so you know it's hard Top Gear is all about mates motors and mucking about it's not just about you know kind of supercars and you know kind of setting you know fast laps around racetracks is it's about you know kind of doing unconventional things unexpected things you know we have a history of you know we did car football way before rocket league was ever a thing you know we've didn't faced fighter planes trains you know you name it we've we've done it in a car we've

created our own vehicles so you know it's not cheap to go out there and license you know kind of cars from the big manufacturers you know we built our own tractor the world's fastest tractor you know other other brands you know don't have these you know ridiculous and fun you know kind of vehicles and it kind of sets us apart and then the top the Top Gear test track in the stick are still iconic you know this mystic is still you know instantly recognizable to a lot a lot of people and then BBC F which a lot of people equate to Sir David Attenborough and and rightly so but you know these are Global TV programs you know we create over 60 hours of landmark TV and movie content per year for BBC F 500 million people watch it you know around the world and more more so in in other territories as well so for Blue Planet 2 there was over

250 million views of the blue planet 2 album in China and apparently and you know I'm apparently it slowed down the internet in China because so many people were trying to stream this content and not only family audiences but more and more kind of generating you know said who are obviously super engaged in this type of content because with everything going on people are starting to have more appreciation of the world around them and who better to come to than the people who have been making content highlighting and celebrating the world for over 50 years and snuck this slide in as well just because it still amazes me but if you look on IMDB at the top rated TV series of all time in the top six series three of them are BBC earth titles which I find personally

mind-blowing to be above some of those other programs but but it's there and so people really love this content and then you know kind of how to match and this has been a brand which historically we were never quite sure to do but more and more it's becoming clear that there's interest there and especially with the you know kind of new types of you know new formats like VR and AR it's becoming more and more clear kind of what we can do with this this brand and you know what it's all about is raising big issues and provoking discussions about our planet and I think you know that is more and more relevant I'm sure I don't need to kind of tell anyone in this room kind of what's going on around the world but this you know is is very current but celebrating you know kind of the world and educating people through telling stories about the planet and I think you know kind of gaming gives another opportunity to do that with the right partner that the right technology you know and the right genre and it's a

global authority on you know subjects of nature science human race and space so it's not just about Natural History there are lots of parts you know which make up this brand and then just the highlight you know it's not just about always about the big global wipies as well you know there are smaller more regional opportunities more than each opportunities with smaller brands which you know again strictly or Dancing with the Stars globally you know appeals to you know a female skewing older audience you know question of sport for that kind of hardcore quiz audience you know hey dougie for preschool there are so many of these IP out there and you know given though you know the right game engine and the right partner you know there are really good opportunities there to to make something work and then there's always new stuff coming through every day you know as I mentioned at the start the site we're the biggest producer of TV content outside of the US studios but

you know that's a big exclusion obviously you know US companies making a whole heap of TV I mean one one thing which we're working on now is an adaptation of the Discworld novels by said toe patch it you know which were sold over 18 million copies so again you know these big IPS are coming through all the time this hard to keep up with what everyone's doing but they are out there and you know there are people willing to have these conversations about these IP as well and then just a few final thoughts really in terms of you know kind of what what we look for when you know kind of people want to come and speak to us about the IP we have I think it's important you know not just to be interested in numbers but to truly understand the DNA of the brand as well so understand what makes it tick you know one what understand what makes it successful you know show passion about the bands and actually you know kind of it's it's priceless to have someone who really loves the brand and if that you know you

can see that come through in the final product that that love but and treating it with respect as well because you know ultimately you know it's you know it's a beloved IP and then lastly you know it's not just about putting your IP on the top of a game and somehow it's gonna kind of miraculously open up doors and bring these huge audiences you know ultimately it has to be a good game and it has to feel like it's an organic part of of the universal of that IP as well so it you know it really has to integrate the brand fully to be successful and that is its thank you very much for your time [Applause] fair enough you finished five minutes early I that was John telling his stories that's a question for the BBC

this is the BBC so questions because I've got questions so can you kind of point to a recent partnership with BBC brand that's gone on speed you know very successful obviously the brand's ourselves a huge I mean Top Gear door to you sure there's a game coming out in a couple of months time actually with an American company called Eline media a game called beyondblue and which everyone saying is fan of the game okay so we kind of partnered with them and have made content available to them and worked with them on that and I think that's getting a lot of traction I think because of that that idea of it being a playable version of Blue Planet - and I think that's highlight it's an interesting area like I mentioned you BBF wasn't a brand we originally thought you know was that applicable to kind of you know cool console gaming yeah but

we've got the console game coming out kind of based on and inspired by Blue Planet - so that's a really interesting opportunity for us we're looking to do more off that so ultimately you just looking for developers and publishers to come to you historically it was very much people would rely on people coming to us unfortunately John who isn't here has joined the organisation in his out there speaking he will work with potential partners to go and secure funding find the right publishers so we are being a lot more active you know kind of on the front foot looking to go out there and engage people as well so not just relying on people to come to us now you

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