Jane Tranter says TV budgets must fit the show. Her advice to producers: keep making bold drama
The Bad Wolf chief says producers must adapt to tighter television budgets without abandoning period dramas, fantasy or other ambitious projects.
Jane Tranter, the co-founder and CEO of Bad Wolf, told The Hollywood Reporter at the MIA Market in Rome that television producers must adjust budgets to fit each show as the industry changes. Her message for ambitious drama was to find a way to make it, even when buyers appear reluctant.
“You can’t expect television budgets to kind of keep increasing, when everywhere else everything is costing more,” Tranter said. She described the approach to a project’s spending more simply: “the budgets are right for the show.”
Why Jane Tranter is talking about TV budgets
Tranter’s comments came as she discussed the shift away from the period of expansive spending on premium series and US–British co-productions. That account of the market is her assessment, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter; she did not give a figure for the scale of budget reductions across television.
She remains optimistic about high-end drama. During a fireside chat in Rome, Tranter said that if people insist period dramas or fantasy are not selling, producers should still pursue them and work out how to make them. She said she urges Bad Wolf’s development team to move against the prevailing creative direction because buyers may eventually want something different.
How Bad Wolf is approaching new drama
One project she discussed was The Other Bennet Sister, a ten-part adaptation written by Sarah Quintrell for the BBC and BritBox. It follows the overlooked Bennet sister from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice as she moves from Longbourn to London. Tranter spoke about collaborative financing across the Atlantic in connection with the production, an approach Bad Wolf has used in its drama work.
Tranter also pointed to Apple TV’s Berlin Noir, a co-production with Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’s PlayTone that was shot in Berlin. The location marked a departure from Bad Wolf’s longstanding studio in Cardiff, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Together, the projects show the different production choices behind her call to match spending to the show.
Her earlier work helps explain why she sees production location as part of that choice. Tranter said working on HBO’s The Night Of informed her decision to build Bad Wolf’s studio work in Wales. She wanted to develop an industry and a sense of community around those jobs, drawing on what she had experienced while making the 2016 crime drama in New York.
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Sources and context
- Veteran HBO Producer Says Budget Cuts Are the New Normal Across TV NowThe Hollywood Reporter
- Bad Wolf — AboutBad Wolf
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.