Sharper Picture - December 3, 2002

It makes sense that the British, having come up with the cult sci-fi classic "Dr. Who" decades ago, rarely fail to provide a ready and willing audience for anybody with a decent science fiction TV show to sell. The Germans, too, have a penchant for a good sci-fi yarn, as do the Japanese. But the French, well, they are a definite "non" when it comes to sci-fi.

That's according to Adam Haight, president of Fireworks Entertainment. And as Tribune Entertainment's partner and international distributor for domestic syndication sci-fi hits "Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda" and "Mutant X," Haight does know about such things.

Fireworks, through its international partnerships with broadcast outfits Telemunchen in Germany and BSkyB in the United Kingdom, has seen both sci-fi shows draw significant audience share in those territories.

"That's an interesting thing about science fiction. It will spike in some territories and be a tough sell in others. The Japanese are big on science fiction, as are the British and the Germans. I don't really know why, but the French don't like space shows. My sense is that outer space is culturally foreign to them and they could care less," opines Haight.

But Haight takes consolation from the fact that the French have taken to Fireworks' earthbound adventure series "Relic Hunter," which is enjoying a very successful outing on M6 as part of an overall partnership deal between the French broadcaster and Fireworks.

Knowing what individual broadcasters in different territories and their viewers are looking for in terms of programming and program genres isn't a matter of mere guesswork, says Haight.

"In working with our international broadcast partners, we try to get into their head about how shows are being scheduled and what they are looking for and what will work for them," he explains.

"You have to be very time-slot savvy and you have to know each territory intimately. It's no longer viable to come up with a show for the domestic market and go international as a second thought," he adds.

Haight takes Germany and its fondness for science fiction as an example of how Fireworks operates. "In Germany now they have gone beyond producing domestic dramas for primetime and are now doing bigger-budget action shows and, from what I have seen, doing them very well. But what they have not tackled yet is science fiction, maybe because of the big budgets involved. So we are now talking with our partners at Telemunchen about doing another science fiction series (for the U.S. domestic and international markets)."

International partnerships are also at the core of the development process for other Fireworks shows in development. These include