‘Black Doves,’ ‘Kaos’ Producer Worries for Future of U.K. Television: ‘I Don’t Feel as Confident About the Sustainability of Our Business Model’

variety.com:

K.J. Yossman “Black Doves” and “Kaos” producer Jane Featherstone has admitted she is not “confident about the sustainability” of the high-end TV production sector in the U.K.

Featherstone, who is the COO of transatlantic prod-co Sister, was speaking as a witness into the U.K. parliamentary inquiry into the sector.

Among the concerns she highlighted for U.K. production were increasing costs and budgets, changes in viewing habits and the way in which technology has turned the industry on its head. “We’re now at a tipping point,” Featherstone told the Culture, Media and Sport committee. “Costs below the line have gone up around 40% and below the line is everybody.

That is the production costs. So that doesn’t include cast, writers, producers; and those costs are called above the line. They’ve gone up even more, probably 50 to 60%.