Aaron Berger, owner of Chatrone, spoke to TTV+ about the content he’s looking for in the international market.

TTVMedia, through its TTV+ platform and backed by ATV, presents its Buyers: What Are They Looking For? initiative to find out more about international buyers’ programming needs.

The interviews were conducted through the base of over 5,000 buyers registered on TTV+, a 24/7 online marketplace where buyers can look through catalogs from thousands of companies, and in which distributors can contact them to close businesses.

This time, we present Aaron Berger, owner of Chatrone.

What type of content are you looking for?

We have offices in the US for production, as well as in Brazil and throughout Latin America. We look for content that is both factual but primarily scripted fiction is the sweet spot that we are doing. We are developing some historical dramas as well, but we are looking for things with strong characters and interesting voices to bring to market, as that seems to be what streamers and other broadcasters around the world are looking for.

What type of stories are you looking for?

I don’t think it’s a particular type of story, although certainly crime drama is always interesting. If you look at the successes on Netflix in the international sphere there’s always an element of intrigue. But I’m finding that genre is being requested a lot lately, both horror. More importantly, diversity of voices.

The key phrase that I hear over and over again is “diversity of both people and ideas, mythologies; and authors”, to bring to the market things that normally have not been celebrated and made into series. I think people from different regions are now having an opportunity to tells stories that didn’t have the opportunity before.

Is there any title that has caught your attention over the last 12 months?

Everything from Shtisel, to Money Heist, all the way back to what I think opened the gates which is Narcos, which has shown that the world is not an English-language world anymore, that we can really celebrate a regional story in its native language, and if the characters and the narrative is compelling, then the audience will find it and come there.

Finding female-centric stories and writers is very key right now. We are looking at cultivating women directos from across the region in a way that hasn’t been the focus to date.

Is there any specific title that worked well for you over the last 12 months?

For us the interesting dynamic was not a particular title, but a medium. Animation was able to be produced consistently throughout the pandemic. Two animated series that were in production with our studio in Brazil but also we work with studios in Mexico, Ireland, India. And we have seen not just a consistency of workflow, but the expansion for Apple, Amazon, Netflix and HBO Max, of an appetite for teen animation, adult animation and going beyond just comedy and just anime. Everyone is realizing the breath of the storytelling that can be done.