[News] ABC News Launches Studio to Expand Documentary Efforts

[FazzNoth]

ABC News is doubling down on documentaries and docuseries, launching a new non-fiction division called ABC News Studios.

The studio already has 15 series in various stages of production, as well as 3 feature-length documentaries, which will live under the ABC News Films banner.

 

 

“It really felt like there was a much bigger opportunity for ABC News to really scale the narrative non-fiction storytelling that we were doing,” ABC News Studios head Mike Kelley tells The Hollywood Reporter, noting that the studio will significantly expand ABC News’ presence in streaming. “In particular, to lean into the narrative non-fiction space that is rooted in journalism, but entertaining at its heart. Those are the stories that we want to tell.”

Kelley says the studio wants to play in the long-form documentary film space; the limited series space; the formatted anthology space; and will produce one-off specials. “From a genre perspective, we are focused on true crime, on investigations, on pop culture, on docuseries with interesting characters and words to explore, and topics that are broadly news-adjacent, all of it underpinned by the journalism that ABC News is known for,” he says.

Among the filmmakers working with ABC on the initial slate are Dawn Porter, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, Stanley Nelson, Irene Taylor, and Lana Wilson.

“We are making sure that we are looking at diverse stories, diverse storytellers, diverse characters, and making sure that we are putting our money where our mouth is in the organization, and telling unique, untold stories in a way that haven’t been told before,” adds ABC News senior vp of streaming and digital content Reena Mehta.

“We really want to be open to the best and biggest and most diverse ideas from around the world, and to work with the best producers who can bring that content to us,” Kelley adds. “We are thrilled to be able to partner with those production companies, to work with them but also to provide our expertise as well, around the journalism, the archive, the legal expertise. It is really a case by case basis, but we want to create the best possible IP, wherever it comes from.”

The studio is also developing series that are closely tied to other programs and talent at ABC News. That includes a weekly newsmagazine for Hulu based on Nightline featuring investigations, deep-dives, interviews and profiles. “The show never takes place in a studio, it’s instead always out in the world,” the logline says, with Mehta adding that it is “a very different take” on the late night news franchise.

 

“For Nightline in particular we have really done a lot of research on the Hulu side, on our side, on news in general, and we believe what consumers want to experience these stories and see them told in a different way,” Mehta says, noting that one of the show’s leads previously worked on Vice News’ HBO program.

And it also includes an concept featuring Good Morning America co-anchor George Stephanopoulos, also for Hulu. The show is a weekly political docuseries that tied to the upcoming midterms, which will feature the veteran ABC anchor, who will also produce through his own banner. Mehta says the news division wanted to figure out “how do we leverage his intelligence, his skill, his obvious strong expertise in the political space, but for a younger audience?”

For broadcast news divisions, documentary and non-fiction storytelling has become a strategic imperative, particularly as their parent companies invest in their own streaming platforms. In 2020 NBC News launched a division called NBC News Studios, with a strategic imperative to create content for “emerging platforms” like NBC’s own Peacock. And last year CBS launched See It Now Studios, led by former CBS News president Susan Zirinsky, which is creating documentary and nonfiction programming for CBS, Paramount+ and other platforms.

 

ABC News Studios is no different when it comes to parent company Disney’s priorities. The studio will create programming for ABC, Disney+, Hulu and National Geographic and other platforms within the company.

“There is a lot of inspiring content that we think fits really well with what those brands are trying to do, so it is a great partnership for us, it is a very collaborative environment,” Mehta says, adding that they are working closely with creative leaders at those brands to figure out what content would work best where.

“We are trying to be really intentional about the kinds of content that work well on linear vs streaming,” Kelley adds.

And ABC News Studios is also developing fare tightly connected to its corporate parent. Among the projects are Cinderella, a news special “dedicated to the legacy” of the 1997 ABC TV movie, which starred Whitney Houston and Brandy; Iwaju, a special for Disney+ looking at the making of the animated series of the same name ABC News Studios is also producing new episodes of National Geographic’s Explorer.

 

More Info: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/abc-news-launches-studio-expand-130048489.html