BROADCAST AWARDS 2019 Best documentary series: Prison
We Won....
Congratulations and thanks to Paddy and the team for an amazing series.
“It made use of incredible access to tell a funny and yet shocking story”
Spring Films for Channel 4
This extraordinary ob-doc opened the nation’s eyes to life in a northern prison by applying a heartwarming and humorous touch to what was an often depressing tale.
Gripping almost 3 million consolidated viewers each episode, the judges were wowed by the “fresh voice in documentary storytelling” provided by director Paddy Wivell, who spent months getting to know the inmates of Durham prison.
“Beautifully shot,” said one judge. “It made use of incredible access to tell a funny and yet shocking story.”
After a five-year moratorium on allowing TV cameras into prisons, this anti-shock-doc aimed to counter previous depictions that showed only the worst elements of a struggling system. This approach provided an “extraordinary insight into real life behind bars”, according to another judge.
Wivell and his team met with the prison’s governor and the Ministry of Justice extensively before heading inside. They didn’t pick up a camera for the first two weeks, instead choosing to get to know the inmates and staff, while being trained in self-protection measures.
At one point, the crew had to be pulled out after being accused by the prisoners of ‘grassing them up’ to the authorities. Wivell’s return, when he confronts one of the ringleaders, was one of the most memorable moments of the series.
Night Will Fall on Catchup
Prison Series Two Commissioned
We're delighted to announce that Channel 4 has commissioned a new series of Prison.
Filmmaker Paddy Wivell is going back behind bars for a second series of critically acclaimed Prison – the first series was Channel 4’s highest rating new factual commission of 2018. The new series will focus on female inmates and explore the human stories on both sides of the door: staff and prisoners. (Prod co – Spring Films)
Meeting Gorbachev Opens the Trieste Film Festival
Stasera che fate? C’è l’inaugurazione del Trieste Film Festival @ilRossetti ore 20 MEETING GORBACHEV di W.Herzog e A.Singer che lo presenterà in sala e porterà una sorpresa a tutti gli spettatori. Vi aspettiamo! #TSFF30
Prison secures European sales
BROADCAST:
Five countries pick up Spring Films’ three-part documentary series
Prison: Spring Films made the three-part Channel 4 doc series
Channel 4’s behind-bars doc Prison has been sold into five European territories.
Germany’s Welt (fka N24), Norway’s TV2, Belgium’s VRT, the Netherlands’ RTL and Denmark’s TV2 have all acquired the Paddy Wivell-directed three-parter, which comes from London-based Spring Films.
The delayed final part of the three-part series aired on C4 on Monday 14 January to 1.4m, giving a series average of 1.5m. The 75-minute special rated well with 25-34-year-olds, who comprised 23% of the audience versus the usual 14%.
Spring Films secured access to the inmates and staff at Durham HMP over several months, highlighting the daily toil and mental health damage, substance abuse and violence common to the institution.
Canada-based Blue Ant International, whose stablemates include Jago Lee’s Antenna Pictures, closed the deals with the European buyers, having first launched the doc series at Mipcom last year.
https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/international/c4s-prisons-secures-european-sales/5136007.article
Read All About it…
To discover how Netflix is shaking the world and read the pearls of wisdom from our MD have a look at...
https://tbivision.com/2019/01/21/how-netflix-has-shaken-up-the-documentary-world/
Dogwoof sinks teeth into ‘Meeting Gorbachev’
Werner Herzog and Andre Singer’s Meeting Gorbachev has been picked up by London-based sales agent Dogwoof ahead of next month’s European Film Market in Berlin.
Dogwoof has also taken international rights outside of the UK and Italy to Meeting Gorbachev. HISTORY Films has signed a separate, unannounced deal with another distributor for those territories.
Herzog and Singer’s film sees Herzog interview the former general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to get an insight into his life and career.
Meeting Gorbachev's world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival last year, The Orchard has North American rights. HISTORY Films has TV rights.
1.4M Overnight
We are delighted to say that PRISON: Violence had an overnight audience of 1.4 million with a 7.1% share.
#PRISON was also the number one tweeted hashtag!
This just in.... Consolidated numbers
2,047,500 (TV)/ 194,554 (VOD)
Read All About it
Read Paddy Wivell's interviews for the Ministry of Justice and Channel 4 on the making of Prison.
https://www.channel4.com/press/news/paddy-wivell-interview-prison
PRISON: Violence
We are delighted to say that after a delay owing to legal issues, we are finally able to show the third in our trilogy 'PRISON' on Monday the 14th at 9pm on Channel 4. Although the wait was long, we think it has been well worth it as it is a remarkable programme. Thank you to Paddy, Jack, Josh and Chris and all who worked so hard on it.
Broadcast Awards
We are delighted to announce that the Spring Films 'Prison' series for Channel 4 has been nominated for 'Best Documentary Series' at the Broadcast awards.
Congratulations to Paddy Wivell and the team and fingers crossed - watch this space.
https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/home/broadcast-awards-shortlist-2019-revealed/5134698.article
Spring Rules the World
We are delighted to announce that Spring Films has won the Théodore Monod award at the 2018 Ma Planet(e) awards for 'Where the Wind Blew'. The awards were launched by the European Institute of Ecology (IEE) in Metz and the Association Ecrans des Mondes in Paris (AEM). MaPlanete, is a brand-new International Film Festival, offering audiences of the Eastern Euroregion a collection of compelling films dealing with the ecological transition i.e; the relationships between Men, Society and Nature. The award was collected for us by our distributor Paul Thiltges.