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New opportunity: current affairs single from indies in the West Midlands

As part of our commitment to storytelling from Across the UK we’re looking for ideas for a single 60-minute current affairs documentary for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Three from an indie with a substantive base in the West Midlands.

The deadline for ideas is 21 November 2024.

Our creative brief 

At ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Three we're looking to celebrate what it is to be young and British today, and all our content must appeal to a young, diverse, UK-wide audience.

We produce content aimed at 16–34 year-old audiences, with a creative focus on ideas that can engage 16-24 year-olds by reflecting their experiences and priorities in an authentic way.

With more choice than ever before, it’s important that our content stands out in an on-demand world.

All ideas you bring to us must feel distinctly ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Three in subject and tone, which means they must be presented from a young point of view, must feel timely and contemporary in subject and/or shape, and must reflect the lives of diverse young people from across the UK – so we are actively seeking ideas, talent and precincts set outside of the South East. Good examples of this include Paddy & Molly: Show No Mersey, Paranormal, Hunting the Catfish Crime Gang and Man Like Mobeen.

We want ideas that speak to the lives of as many young people today as possible and our shows must feel like they are rooted in the experiences of our audience right now. As a rule, if your idea could have been made five years ago then we’re unlikely to commission it. 

We’re always excited to hear about bold, innovative new ways to tell what could be more familiar stories, and what new shapes and forms could be used to make these feel exciting, fresh and unique.

We want to entertain audiences with programmes they can kick back to, but we also want to surprise and empower them. 

Our genres

We commission across a range of genres which means we have a unique content offer. 

In documentary and current affairs we're looking for strong stories and treatments that experiment with form. We want to explore how we build returnable documentary brands along the lines of Paranormal or High, where extraordinary young experiences and interest are explored and told in innovative ways.

In comedy and drama we continue to champion new voices, and we’re always looking to reflect the young British experience from all around the UK with a fresh and original tone. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, Things You Should Have Done, Smoggie Queens and Juice are great examples.

Commissioning for online

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Three has a broadcast channel to encourage universal accessibility but our content primarily lives on iPlayer, so it's vital that our programmes cut-through in the crowd of online content. Getting a commission can therefore rest on the potential of an idea to standout in the on-demand environment - so bold titling, iconic imagery, unique access and strong talent is a must, and should be baked into the heart of any proposal brought to us. 

Our iPlayer focus means returnability is key for us, and we’re always interested in compelling stories with surprising twists and turns that can be transformed into bingeable boxsets or appointment to view content. I Kissed a Girl/I Kissed a Boy and High, Surviving a Dubai Drugs Bust are both great examples of this. 

On-screen talent

We have a stellar heritage launching and developing the careers of award-winning new British on-screen talent like Stacey Dooley, Zara McDermott, Daisy Edgar Jones, Paul Mescal, Mawaan Rizwan, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Guz Khan, Adjani Salmon, Matt Shea and Mobeen Azhar. We want to continue to be the launch pad of fantastic front on camera talent.

We are interested in ideas with strong young talent attached who can engage our audiences in a meaningful way. Recent examples include Ibiza: Secrets of the Party Island, Body on the Beach: What Happened to Annie? and Andrew Tate: The Man Who Groomed the World.

Ideas that are fronted by talent already familiar to our demographic are also a great way to grab attention such as Amir Khan and Faryal Makhdoom in Meet the Khans: Big in Bolton, Krept and Konan and Zara McDermott.

we're especially interested in titles with diverse talent, or a diverse cast of characters from around the UK and outside of London. These titles need to 'entertain', and the cast should be under 25 and truly represent the breadth of voices that make up the British audience. 

Growing production companies outside London 

We are also passionate about growing and supporting a strong pipeline of production companies outside of London, so we can reflect and attract audiences from across the country.

To encourage this we have run successful development opportunities specifically targeted at companies based in the Nations and English regions which have resulted in an array of factual and factual entertainment commissions.

Read about our latest opportunity targeted at companies in the West Midlands.

We continue to welcome ideas from production companies and creatives which authentically represent young lives across the UK via unique access, unexpected stories, and exciting new talent.

Growing new off-screen talent

We work hard to support and promote new behind the camera talent with a range of schemes and initiatives:

New Documentary Directors' Initiative

Our New Documentary Director’s initiative nurtures and champions up and coming talent to make their first film. Recent films created by the new documentary directors include Scars: Surviving a Stabbing, Bad Love: Why Did Fri Kill Kyle?, Defending Digga D.

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Three Pitch at the Sheffield Doc/Fest

³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Three Pitch at the Sheffield Doc/Fest gives young producers the chance to pitch and make their documentary ideas with us. Recent winners include Jay Darcy, Tamar Mankassarian and Luke Davies. Previous winners include Sophia Slater and Helena Rochester with Britain’s Puppy Boom: Counting the Cost, Ashley Turner with School of Hard Tricks and Becky Southworth with Can Sex Offenders Change?.

Watch a showreel of our recent content highlights

Sending your ideas to ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Three

Ideas for ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ Three should be pitched via the TV commissioning genre teams using the submission system PiCoS. Find out more about how to access PiCoS.

Not an indie? Find out how to break into the business

The ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ support and run many schemes and initiatives designed to find and develop the next generation of talented creatives, on and off screen. Find out more