One way I help media organisations is by developing video formats for online platforms, especially in the areas of news and factual. I’ve developed winning formats for The New York Times, BBC Three and many other publishers. (See case studies)

This page will talk through why formats are so helpful for media publishers, and what I’ve learnt about the best process for developing them.

What are formats and why are they effective?

Formats are any repeatable video or television idea. Often they’re associated with the world of entertainment — Queer Eye, The X Factor, Carpool Karaoke, Buzzfeed’s Worth It and so on — but they can also be effective in news and journalism. For instance, in 2015 I led the team that developed the BBC Three format, Things Not to Say, that not only delivered millions of viewers to the channel but won awards for the insight it gave into other people’s lives.

I see three reasons why formats are so effective for media organisations:

  1. Audiences like them — If you enjoy a video and then see one in the same format you’re more to likely to watch it as you know it’s likely to be good! It’s the same reason chains are popular — you know what you’re going to get.
  2. You can move out of “one-off hell” — Making a new video is a difficult creative process and it involves a lot of work to get it good. A format lets you do the hardest work once.
  3. Cheaper and faster — Usually the more you do something the better, faster and cheaper you’re able to do it.

(A “format” doesn’t have to feel yucky)

By the way, I realise for some, the word “format” can have negative associations of being cheap or uncreative. But there are also strong creative reasons for investing in formats:

  1. More headspace for editorial — Because you’re not having to reinvent everything from scratch each time, you can spend more time on the journalism and creativity where it counts. For example, on Things Not to Say we were able to take difficult subjects like sexual assault and cancer — which demanded more time and headspace — because we weren’t having to spend time considering issues like what visual set-up to use.
  2. You free up resources for bigger risks — If you have a format successfully working away, delivering large audiences and revenue, you find yourself with more freedom to take bigger risks elsewhere in your output.
  3. Opportunity for new talent to grow — The more established a format is, the less experience is needed to produce it well. This is a great opportunity for new producers.
  4. Impact — In a crowded media world, it’s hard for creative work to stand out. But ove time the volume associated with a format helps it stand out in the cultural landscape.

What’s the best process for coming up with formats?

There are five steps to the process I run:

Step 1: Strategic diagnostic

Some clients have a clear sense of what they hope to achieve with a video format but for others, some clarification is needed. While it can be easy to get overwhelmed by these questions — Who is your audience? What are you trying to communicate? — answering them is fundamental. Once we have a clear brief then we can progress to…

Step 2: Ideas

There are lots of ways I help teams come up with ideas, from creative game-playing to research trips. One method (often underrated) is watching a lot of inspiring videos. For this reason, I keep video lists for different genres (e.g. alternative ways to do interviews) and am always collecting new inspiring examples for my email list, Video Ideas.

Step 3: Pitch!

Once we’ve developed a number of ideas, it’s time to pitch them. This is an important stage in the iterative process of working out what formats will both 1) work for the organisation’s goals 2) be popular with the target audience.

Step 4: Make a pilot

A pilot is important for testing the best ideas. It’s only once we actually make a film that we can get a feel for how it’s going to work. A pilot also gives us the chance to collect audience feedback. I normally recommend making three pilots as this gives us the chance to test a range of ideas, from “safe” to ambitious.

Step 5: Full production

If you feel a pilot has the potential to be a returnable format then it’s time to into production! The aim at this stage is to both refine the format and start making efficiencies. Sometimes I help at this stage with training teams or with ongoing support, but this is where I’m normally handing over the project to an in-house team.

Alternatively, you can keep exploring and iterating with further pilots. After all, it can take time to find a good formula. We filmed a number of (what I liked to call) “happy failures” before we made Things Not to Say to a Trans Person, the film that went viral and led to the series of Things Not to Say.

Case studies

World Reacts – New York Times Opinion

I developed this format for The New York Times, leading to films on Covid-19, elections, healthcare, climate policy and policing. The series has been very successful with high engagement and viewing figures.

The series started with a pilot featuring Europeans reacting to facts about American life recorded in a studio setting. But Covid-19 restrictions, and the interest in hearing from people around the world, led us to develop the remote-filming set-up.

Things Not to Say – BBC Three

Things Not To Say is an award-winning series of films that uses humour to overcome stereotypes and prejudice. The series is very popular and has been viewed tens of millions of times on YouTube and Facebook. Over 90 films have been made to-date and the series won a Mind Media Award in 2017, and a Broadcast Digital Award in 2019. (View the full playlist here) 

Face to Face – BBC Ideas

It’s often argued that social media is aggressive because the interactions between its users are impersonal. As an antidote to this, Face to Face brings together internet adversaries for a discussion in person.

Dark Skinned Girls Explain Colourism (Pilot)

This format was an attempt to innovate with the explainer format, by replacing the journalist’s voice-over with those of people directly affected by the issue. The aim was to combine the educational impact of scripted explainers with the personal experiences that make Things Not to Say so powerful.