There’s still some way to go to move the oil tanker towards new territory, says the BBC’s creative director, digital, Will Saunders. He described how the corporation had moved into short form content, before taking a break, and now returning to the format again.
Saunders screened Get Shorty, a film put together by the vlogger Brett Domino, which had been commissioned to explain the concept to BBC executives. Short form content commissioned by the BBC is seen online through the BBC iPlayer. “We’re still in the world where TV is the biggest game in town”.
While producers like Matt Campion of Spirit Digital Media are making self-contained shorts like Drinking with… seen on Channel 4’s online All 4 – and encouraging people to binge view – to the extent it could almost end up back as an hour long episode, Talpa’s Joost Galjart is taking the longer talent show The Voice and distributing single acts as self contained mini episodes.
The tanker has come full circle.
