In the first event of its kind, the commissioning team from BBC Studios Social are inviting indies “of all scales and backgrounds” to pitch fresh, short-form concepts that extend and enrich existing IP, engage loyal fans, and reach new audiences on digital platforms.
The available production opportunities are online now and cover many of the top brands in the BBC Studios Social portfolio. On the Kids & Family side, commissioners are interested in food and fun family-related ideas for global phenomenon Bluey as well as playful activity-focussed content for the ever popular Hey Duggee. Youth-skewing ideas are welcomed for both automotive titan Top Gear and digital-first comedy channel Funny Parts.
On the factual and unscripted side, BBC Earth is looking for concepts that capture the splendour of nature in accessible formats for their new vertical channels and a spread of ideas across space, sustainability and the human body are sought for BBC Earth Science.
In the past year, BBC Studios Social has commissioned over 1,500 minutes of original content across their portfolio including a series of stop motion Hey Duggee adventures, a range of celebrity-voiced Bluey Book Reads that has surpassed 16 million views since launch and deep dives into US car-modding culture on Top Gear.
Chris Allen, director, digital content development says: “In an increasingly competitive and fast maturing digital-first market, BBC Studios Social are committed to finding, developing, and partnering with the best independent producers and new talent globally. We love our world-class brands, and we’re super excited to share them with you to deliver new formats, new talent, and new ideas that are critical and commercial successes. Whether silly comedy sketches, or a mind-bending science documentary, we hope this will be the start of some beautiful creative partnerships.”
To view the open brief and submit pitches, interested parties should check the brief, where full details of what the commissioning team are looking can be found.
Each brief is available as part of a video and accessible in text form. The submissions portal is open now and closes at 23:59 BST on Sunday 21 April 2024.
