The BBC has commissioned a drama strand exclusively for its iPlayer platform, in an extension of its strategy to bolster its digital content portfolio. The new drama strand comprises a joint venture between BBC iPlayer, BBC Three and BBC Drama Production to commission six original short films over two years, written and directed by who […]
The BBC has commissioned a drama strand exclusively for its iPlayer platform, in an extension of its strategy to bolster its digital content portfolio.
The new drama strand comprises a joint venture between BBC iPlayer, BBC Three and BBC Drama Production to commission six original short films over two years, written and directed by who the BBC describes as the best up-and-coming writing and directing talent from across the UK.
The commission builds on BBC iPlayers strategy to showcase more exclusive content within the service in 2013 and is the latest move of its kind, started in 2012, when the BBC brought selected online-only programmes to audiences via BBC iPlayer. These included BBC Three’s Feed My Funny new talent comedy pilots, the Pond Life Doctor Who mini-series and curated archive programmes for BBC Four. As a result, Pond Life received over five million iPlayer requests, the BBC Three comedy pilots over one million and the BBC Four archive programmes received over two million cumulative requests.
Commenting on the new commissions, Victoria Jaye, BBC head of IPTV & TV online content, said: This ambitious new strand builds on BBC iPlayer as a creative platform to bring original British drama to audiences online, and explores storytelling outside of a scheduled TV slot or duration. Audiences will be able to discover, share and enjoy these dramas whenever and wherever they choose.
Added Hilary Salmon, executive producer for BBC Drama, says: This is a precious opportunity for BBC Drama Production to produce original content for the BBC iPlayer and the BBC Three audience and to build relationships with writing and directing talent that is on the way up.
