Speaker Details
Full Name
Robert Samuelson
Company
ITV Studios
Title
Vice President of Global Content
Country (Address)
United Kingdom
Biography
Robert 'Sammy' Samuelson is Vice President of Global Content at ITV Studios, looking after specific production labels within the ITV Studios group of international companies, as well as seeking out third party independent production company relationships. Samuelson's remit is to source new scripted content for the ITV Studios slate, as well as working with the anchor producer to strategise and shepherd these projects from script to screen and beyond, with a particular emphasis on development, deficit and co-production financing, marketing and distribution. Recent projects include period spy thriller The Ipcress File, medical drama Maternal, event mini-series Litvinenko and critically-acclaimed comedy-drama Bump (one of a number of quality Australian projects currently on the ITV Studios slate, with more to follow). Prior to work with ITV Studios, Samuelson worked across production, sales, distribution, development, legal & business affairs and financing in various commercial executive roles at the likes of Studiocanal UK, Mister Smith Entertainment, Cornerstone Films and Altitude Film Entertainment. Samuelson is a full voting member of BAFTA, a mentor for the ORT Scheme, and a board member of charitable organisation UK Jewish Film.
What we're looking for from Ready, Steady, Pitch!
We're looking for projects that cross into any of the following genre/styles:
- "Prestige" thrillers: elevated, tentpole-style dramas that don't have to be purely crime (but could be), speaking to suspenseful, gripping situations and dynamics - think Succession or Bodyguard or BBC's 2019 hit Gold Digger. It could be a romantic drama, an action-based espionage thriller, or a geopolitical intrigue piece. Anything that feels high stakes, characterful, with big experiences.
- "Light touch" genre: world-building shows that are rooted in a sense of the real world, but have something 'out there' about them - not pure fantasy, sci-fi or gothic, but variations on those. e.g. All3's "Passenger", commissioned by ITVX, which looks and feels like a traditional crime story, with a developing mystery and a 'whodunnot'/'whydunnit' feel, but unravels into a mysterious, fantastical, other-worldly scenario.
- Australian environment projects that have a broader feel and touchpoint to resonate with global audiences: drama projects that speak to an Australian lived experience that audiences in other countries around the world would immediately understand - e.g. natural thrillers (cli-fi) and stories that feel quintessentially (and famously) Aussie set in iconic environments. Australian stories that are simultaneously unique, but exportable.
- "Prestige" thrillers: elevated, tentpole-style dramas that don't have to be purely crime (but could be), speaking to suspenseful, gripping situations and dynamics - think Succession or Bodyguard or BBC's 2019 hit Gold Digger. It could be a romantic drama, an action-based espionage thriller, or a geopolitical intrigue piece. Anything that feels high stakes, characterful, with big experiences.
- "Light touch" genre: world-building shows that are rooted in a sense of the real world, but have something 'out there' about them - not pure fantasy, sci-fi or gothic, but variations on those. e.g. All3's "Passenger", commissioned by ITVX, which looks and feels like a traditional crime story, with a developing mystery and a 'whodunnot'/'whydunnit' feel, but unravels into a mysterious, fantastical, other-worldly scenario.
- Australian environment projects that have a broader feel and touchpoint to resonate with global audiences: drama projects that speak to an Australian lived experience that audiences in other countries around the world would immediately understand - e.g. natural thrillers (cli-fi) and stories that feel quintessentially (and famously) Aussie set in iconic environments. Australian stories that are simultaneously unique, but exportable.
Speaking At
ITV Studios, Robert Samuelson - Marketplace Roundtable
ITV Studios, Robert Samuelson - Ready, Steady, Pitch!
ITV Studios, Robert Samuelson - Ready, Steady, Pitch!
ITV Studios, Robert Samuelson - Ready, Steady, Pitch!
ITV Studios, Robert Samuelson - Ready, Steady, Pitch!
ITV Studios, Robert Samuelson - Ready, Steady, Pitch!
ITV Studios, Robert Samuelson - Ready, Steady, Pitch!
ITV Studios, Robert Samuelson - Ready, Steady, Pitch!
ITV Studios, Robert Samuelson - Ready, Steady, Pitch!
ITV Studios, Robert Samuelson - Ready, Steady, Pitch!
ITV Studios, Robert Samuelson - Ready, Steady, Pitch!
ITV Studios, Robert Samuelson - Ready, Steady, Pitch!
ITV Studios, Robert Samuelson - Ready, Steady, Pitch!
SCREEN FOREVER is proudly supported by the Queensland Government, through Screen Queensland.
Screen Producers Australia respectfully acknowledges the people of the Yugambeh language region, the traditional owners of the lands on which we met. We thank the traditional custodians for welcoming us all onto their lands.
We acknowledge and pay respects to them and all their descendants both past and present. We also acknowledge the many Aboriginal people from other regions as well as Torres Strait and South Sea Islander people who now live in the local area and have made an important contribution to the community.