Analysis: The BAFTA-nominated production company behind Poor Things can now rely on a well-resourced corporation to provide funds for future development and growth
With the BAFTAs taking place tonight, it will be another success story for Element Pictures, whatever the outcome. The Dublin-based production company behind the multi-nominated Poor Things is an Irish success story. Element, however, is now primarily owned by a Luxembourg-based multimedia corporation and this change in ownership tells us about the Europeanisation of the screen industries, its economic imperatives and the potential cultural outcomes.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's Morning Ireland, Ed Guiney of Element Pictures on the success of Poor Things at the Golden Globe awards where the film won two awards
As an independent audiovisual producer, Element has a string of achievements under its belt. It has credits on over 30 films in addition to several television shows. Volta Pictures is the moniker under which it streams and distributes movies and television shows. Films such as The Guard (2011) and The Wind that Shakes the Barley (2006) are critically acclaimed and popular with cinema audiences. On smaller screens, the BBC-commissioned Normal People was the breakout television hit of the lockdown years. Element also runs the Lighthouse Cinema in Dublin and the Pálás Cinema in Galway.
At the core of the company's growth is an unerring eye for emerging talent, original, thought-provoking content, sound business judgment, and deep immersion in screen culture. It has also benefitted from Government policy in the form of tax breaks, international agreements on co-production, commissions from terrestrial broadcasters and direct funding from Screen Ireland and Coimisiún na Meán.
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From RTÉ Radio 1's The Business, interview with Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe about the success of Element Pictures
As a result, it was not surprising that 2022 saw the acquisition of the majority of Element Pictures by Fremantle. The London-based multinational television production and distribution company is a subsidiary of RTL Group, a Luxembourg-based media conglomerate, and has a record for incubating talent.
International programme distribution, satellite distribution and now, the streaming boom are all stages and conditions of an ever-internationalising screen sector. Scaling up is the next logical step for a company like Element with clear international ambitions. That production companies need to scale up and survive in the increasingly internationalized media environment is also one of the stated aims of Irish audiovisual policy.
It is also a victory for European Union single market policy endeavours. Before the development of Television without Frontiers (a legal framework for cross-border television transmission) in 1989, trans-European television conglomerates were but a glimmer in the eye of the European Commission. RTL Europe is undoubtedly one of the favourite children of early policy considerations to birth a pan-European audiovisual industry and cultural space.
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Trailer for Poor Things
Europe also mandated quotas on broadcasters such as RTÉ to source at least 10% of their transmission time from independent production companies like Element Pictures. This gave life to many independent screen production companies working across television and film.
It is helpful to see Freemantle's acquisition of Element as another step in the Europeanisation of Irish-based cultural production in the face of global consolidation. To meet content demands, global streamers are acquiring independent production companies. In 2021, Amazon acquired MGM for $8.5 billion. This will give its global streaming arm, Amazon Prime, access to intellectual property such as James Bond, Vikings, Robocop, Stargate, Rocky, Fargo and The Handmaid's Tale. We can expect remakes, serializations, and character spin-offs, as these franchises are mined for content.
That year also saw Sony Pictures Televisions buying out Cardiff-based independent production company Bad Wolf. Viewers here will be familiar with Bad Wolf’s Doctor Who and His Dark Materials. This brings these acquisitions closer to home. Freemantle is also expanding globally and has just acquired Singapore-based Beach House, a multi-genre Pan Asian production powerhouse.
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From RTÉ News in 2018, Element's Pálás Cinema in Galway opens following €8.5m construction
These conglomerates' management and corporate culture are only sometimes a good fit with creative content development. It is a condition of survival for nominally independent screen production companies that they find a suitor who respects their autonomy. This is the modus operandi of Freemantle. It has acquired production houses with a reputation for quality and originality.
Freemantle’s size allows these production companies to negotiate distribution and terms of services better and retain the intellectual property from their creations. Additionally, RTL's in-house distribution and streaming services secure Freemantle’s access to international markets and benefit from those economies of scale.
There is always a concern that takeovers and acquisitions in media companies will ultimately lead to the dilution or compromise of the cultural specificity of the producer. However, Element has the advantage of having already proven its capacity to develop compelling new projects, manage creativity and achieve relative commercial success at home and abroad in the process.
Element has already proven its capacity to develop compelling new projects, manage creativity and achieve commercial success
A well-resourced parent company benefits them by allowing them to fund programme development and create more ambitious content. Larger production firms can also spread their risks, which is particularly helpful in an industry characterized by uncertainty. That it further removes Element from a domestic focus is a moot point, as Element has always channelled its European and national cultural and economic contexts.
However, hybrid European companies should be insured against takeover by global tech companies in the context of accelerated mergers and acquisitions. European screen culture has developed partially as a product of interweaving national and transnational public policy and investment. Future policy should consider how the public could retain some stake in the shares and Intellectual Property as an investment condition. Then, we would all be winners at the award ceremonies.
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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
