Fox rethinking international production

Fox TV Studios is continuing to review its production operations in non-US territories. Since April the News Corp.-owned studio has been weighing the future of its international TV production presence.

The review has already led to the closure of the firm’s UK production operation. Meanwhile, a question mark hangs over its French production arm. FTVS’ French production unti, which was set up only at the end of last year, recently saw its founding chief Angela Lorente leave her post to return to TF1, France’s biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster.

According to a senior News Corp. source the company has shelved ambitious plans to develop a production operation in Russia. And, says the source, FTVS is still determining what shape its international production presence should take in the future. Following the recent changes, FTVS now has production operations in France, India, Australia and New Zealand.

“There’s still a lot of planning and thought going into what presence Fox wants out there,” the source says. “It’s not clear yet what will happen but my guess is there will be some kind of presence going forward.”

There has been speculation that FTVS will move to a model of operating small-scale production offices in non-US markets, rather than end-to-end production houses. FTVS had planned to open a network of production units in international markets, but after the departure of FTVS President Angela Shapiro-Mathes, who left for Discovery earlier this year, News Corp. is deciding whether to move in a new direction.