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Recruitment & Executive Search for the Media & Entertainment Industries
JOBS OF THE MONTH

 
Head of Digital Content

We're currently conducting a search for a widely popular channel which is part of a larger portfolio owned by a Major International Broadcaster.

You’ll be responsible for defining the editorial strategy of the website and ensuring consistency of tone across all digital products and services.

For further information about this position and other current executive vacancies, please click here

 
Sales Executive (DVD & Inflight) 

We're recruiting for a Sales Executive and require someone with previous TV Sales experience as you’ll be selling TV content for Inflight use and DVD.

You’ll be meeting and exceeding agreed sales targets while also coordinating the royalties and design approval process for DVD. 
 
For further information about this position and other current vacancies, please click here

 
APPOINTMENTS NEWS 
Rupert Fleming

Head of Entertainment
Samsung Electronics
Searchlight Executive is pleased to announce the placement of Rupert Fleming at Samsung as the new Senior Manager for Entertainment Content Acquisitions.

With a wealth of experience across the media sector, Rupert has worked for an electic range of companies, rising through the ranks at Universal Pictures UK and then heading up Business Development and Partnerships for WildTangent and Coolroom Limited.

Rupert has a background in overseeing partnerships with technology leaders such as HP, Dell, MTV, Nickelodeon, EA and Real Games, and will now be leading the acquisitions for Samsung for both VOD and Music Content.

We wish him the best of luck with his new role! 

TWO MINUTES WITH:
Danny Barnard

Junior Producer & Edit Assistant
Prism Media Production
Thanks to Audrey at Searchlight Recruitment, I was recently placed at the media production company, Prism.
 
Prism work over a wide range of brands across online, TV, print and radio, so it has been a great learning process for me. The variety that comes with working for such a company has been one of the most enjoyable aspects of the job, along with the creative side of the role as I have a particular passion for editing and after effects.
 
I’ve also worked on some of the newer 3D projects which has seen me getting to grips with Cinema 4D and given me the opportunity to work with high profile clients.  
 
Working within a small and friendly team and being given my own space to work across projects using a wide range of software has been great. And you can’t go wrong with being based in the heart of Soho!
 
To find out more about Prism and the production services they offer, you can click here.

 
IVCA – Searchlight Sponsors the Clarion Awards 
Held on Friday 20th September, The IVCA Clarion Awards was a great showcase for those who shine an important light on issues such as diversity, health, community development, welfare and education within the public, charity, social enterprise and corporate sectors.

With Searchlight sponsoring the Live Event award, MD Cathy Alford presented the Gold Award to StreamUK for their World Book Day 2013 event which was streamed to children and school classes across the country.   

A big congratulations to the other winners and thank you to the IVCA for once again putting on a great event. 


For more information on the IVCA click here.
 
WORDS OF WISDOM

I don’t think there’s ever been a time filled with so much new and unique opportunity for the world of television… but the reality is that everything about opportunity isn’t always simple or easy.”".

Jeff Katzenberg, CEO,
DreamWorks Animations, 
MIPCOM 2013

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WELCOME TO THE AUTUMN 2013 EDITION OF NEWS & VIEWS!


At Searchlight we've had a very strong start to the Autumn with a large number of new assignments being confirmed.

Companies seem to be hiring with a new confidence, which in turn is opening up new opportunities for employees.

This month’s lead article considers the current TV climate as MIPCOM 2013 harks the future TV slate as the Golden Age of TV. With VOD platforms commissioning original content and Second Screening becoming almost mandatory, is the industry starting to become too saturated?


The Golden Age of TV?
 

Every year MIPCOM comes bounding in with new formats, new programmes and the predicted biggest hits for the forthcoming year.

It’s a TV market at the end of the day and you’d want the biggest names and the most powerful gravitas behind your project when presenting. And it seems to be getting more and more competitive with each year as the TV market burgeons with talk of VOD, Mobiles, Tablets and Second Screening.

Bigger names have been delving into the TV world, gone is the old curtain of inferiority that hung over TV by the film industry. Things have now turned on the head with television growing into a more popular platform for storytellers to create vast worlds of plot and character, with far more weight and longevity than a film’s screen time can offer.

The Writer’s Guild of America East Union recently reported that more writers are turning to television due to the emergence of more “creatively satisfying” programmes. TBIvision recently highlighted the fact that almost nine out of ten WGAE film, television and digital media members who had written films in the past five years intend to seek television work in the next year. (Full article here.)

MIPCOM, among others, has cited this as the Golden Age of TV, but is this just oversaturation? Is the breaking down of the traditional film and TV barrier going to eventually damage it? 
 
Earlier this year, two of film’s biggest names, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas said that the demand for huge Hollywood blockbusters (such as the steady stream of comic book adaptations) and the finance driven focus on box office figures has left more creative work out in the cold.

Spielberg even noted that getting Lincoln made was a challenge, despite the fact it had his name behind it for Directorial duties, and that he originally thought he’d have to make it a TV project.

While we seem to be basking in a Golden Age of TV, will it eventually take a similar route? Are TV ratings becoming the new box office figures, with shows being axed too early and not being allowed to secure a footing as the next ‘big’ thing comes along? Will the competition eventually become too fierce and start to replicate the lack of originality seen now in the mainstream film market?

Let us know your thoughts! Do you think the dam for TV will eventually break or are we experiencing a TV renaissance of sorts that will only help to improve it in the long run?  

 
MIPCOM 2013
Digital TV, Social Sharing, and of course…Breaking Bad.
 
Another year, another MIPCOM, and 2013 was one of the most successful thus far with an attendee count of approximately 13,500.

Digital continued to be a hot topic, with various discussions regarding social media, its relationship with TV ratings and the expansion of digital TV and how people access content and their favourite programmes.

A particularly interesting session on Programming and Engaging in the Digital Age involved Jon Steinberg (COO & President, Buzzfeed), Peter Bale (VP for CNN International), Andrew Mitchell (Director of Partnerships, Facebook), Moeed Ahman (New Media Manager, Al Jazeera) and Gry Winther (Winther Productions.)

They discussed the wide spread audience engagement that social networks offer and the endless sharing of stories, photos and articles that is involved, with Steinberg saying,  “we’re bringing more hard news on a relative basis than a lot of the traditional television networks do now.”

While this may be a little too strong a statement (do you agree?) Bale pointed out that this constant sharing helps out the television broadcasters in seeing which points of news are most popular and interesting to the audience.

Another particular highlight was Jeff Katzenberg (DreamWorks Animation, CEO) who was crowned MIPCOM 2013’s Personality of the Year. Giving an impressive keynote speech, he spoke about linear TV and its survival, Netflix, DreamWorks’ acquisition of YouTube multi-channel network, AwesomenessTV and mobile entertainment. He also gave a surprising confession when he admitted to offering $75 million for just 3 extra Breaking Bad episodes.

He’d planned to air them online in 30 daily, six-minute sets but admitted having now seen the finale it was a bad idea. However, it did play into an important admission as he spoke about how the idea of short form content is key to the future of TV and how it will be important as the usage of tablets and second screening continues to increase. 

 
Newsletter Editor 
James Cheetham
Communications Coordinator

Searchlight provides Recruitment and Executive search services to the media and entertainment industries. We help our clients fill a wide range of positions at all levels from middle management to senior executive across our specialist sectors. We attribute our continued success to two main factors: Our excellent understanding of the sectors in which we work, and secondly, our reputation, which draws prestigious clients to use our services, and encourages high-calibre candidates to entrust us with their CVs.

For further details about Searchlight, please visit our website: www.searchlight.com or contact Cathy Alford at cathy@searchlight.com

Our mailing address is: Searchlight, 10 Pratt Mews
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