BBC Three Goes Stateside

Damian Kavanagh, Controller, BBC Three announced the three new commissions at the Edinburgh International Television Festival.

• American High School, a landmark six-part documentary series, from Swan Films
• Reggie Yates: Life And Death In Chicago, from Sundog Pictures
• Trump’s Youngest Superfans, from BBC Current Affairs

Damian Kavanagh, Controller, BBC Three, says: “We know young people in the UK are fascinated with the US and there is a lot to say about the US in 2016. Trump v Clinton will define a generation, Obama’s legacy and Black Lives Matter will have an impact over here the UK. It’s important young people in Britain get a perspective on what is happening in the US, and why.”

Six months ago BBC Three became the first TV channel in the world to switch online.

Commenting on the move Kavanagh says: “BBC Three is reinventing the BBC’s offer for young people by giving them the content they want, on the device they choose, when they want it. It’s not rocket science but it will take time. Reinventing BBC Three is a marathon not a sprint but the early signs are very encouraging.

“Shows like Drugs Map, Fleabag, Murder In Succesville, Thirteen and Hood have had real impact with our audience but we can’t sit still, we will carry on innovating with content and new forms of storytelling that isn’t TV because that’s what young people want as well as TV. It’s not an either or.”

All shows will be available from BBC Three and BBC Three on iPlayer in October 2016 and accompanied by a range of short form video, written articles and animation from www.bbc.co.uk/bbcthree that will focus on US culture and the US election. 

BBC Three will show young people in the UK what it’s like to grow up as an African-American teenager in American High School, a landmark, six-part documentary from Swan Films.

Graduating High School is a fork in the road for Americans, but even more so if you are African-American. For this school's seniors, 2016 was their make-or-break year.

Filmed over the course of a year at a High School in South Carolina, American High School follows a charismatic principal and his students, including star football players, Ivy League hopefuls, male cheerleaders and young mothers as they prepare for the next step in life.

The series reveals life through the eyes of young African-Americans, from Homecoming to graduation; from dates at the diner to senior Prom, and captures life-changing moments on the journey to adulthood. This is a High School as you’ve never seen it before, and a unique insight into how it really feels to be young and black in America today.

Executive Producer Joe Evans says: "It's been a privilege to follow the lives of these teenagers over the last school year. Their experiences, and views of contemporary America, not only make for compelling human interest documentary, but against the backdrop of Black Lives Matter, and the forthcoming Presidential election, feel more urgent than ever for us all to understand."

Damian Kavanagh, Controller BBC Three, says: “Life and Death Row won a Bafta for BBC Three and I have similar hopes for American High School, it is filmmaking at its best. The taster brought tears to my eyes.”

American High School – 6x40 - Swan Films for BBC Three
Series Directed, Produced and Filmed by Marcus Plowright, Produced by Sarah Collinson, Executive Produced by Joe Evans and Neil Crombie. Commissioned by Damian Kavanagh, and Clare Sillery and Jamie Balment, BBC Documentaries.

The latest documentary for BBC Three from award-winning documentarian Reggie Yates is Sundog Pictures Reggie Yates: Life And Death In Chicago.

Against the backdrop of unprecedented gun violence, Reggie Yates travels to Chicago to investigate gun crime in President Obama's adopted hometown. Chicago's murder rate has soared by 72 percent in 2016 with shootings up more than 88 percent. There were 468 murders in 2015, a 12.5 percent increase on the previous year, with many of the victims young African-American men. So, who is to blame?

Reggie hears first-hand the accusations of police brutality, but after attending the aftermath of a shooting, and funeral of a young black man, he comes to realise an even bigger problem is the majority of killings are perpetrated by young black men living in Chicago’s poorest neighbourhoods.

Reggie Yates says: “Life and Death in Chicago might just be the strongest film I've made yet, it's an incredible personal journey and unfolding narrative. With the realities of black-on-black violence and police brutality an unfortunate reality for Chicago, this I feel is a film that tells a story we're aware of from the perspective of the people.”

Damian Kavanagh; “I can’t praise Reggie highly enough, Life and Death In Chicago is another exceptional documentary Reggie has made with BBC Three, and with this he is taking it to the next level.”

Sam Anthony, Executive Producer for Sundog Pictures: "Making such an important film at a time when all eyes are on America- and Obama's legacy- was a real opportunity to make what I think is our most ambitious Reggie Yates film yet."

Reggie Yates: Life and Death in Chicago – 1x60 - Sundog Pictures for BBC Three
Presented by Reggie Yates. Filmed, and directed by Toby Trackman. Producer, Becky Read. Associate Producer, Reggie Yates. Executive Producers Dov Freedman and Sam Anthony.
Commissioned by Damian Kavanagh, Controller, BBC Three and Jamie Balment, Commissioning Editor, Documentaries

Donald Trump has divided and astonished America with his own brand of politics; once seen as the outside contender he is one step away from the Whitehouse as the Presidential Republican nominee. He is accused of being a ‘racist’, ‘sexist’ and a ‘liar’ by some in his own party whilst millions of others have been inspired to join his campaign, strongly believing he can ‘Make America Great Again’.

In Trump’s Youngest Superfans, Angela Scanlon meets with devoted and passionate young people stumping for Trump. From some of his youngest fans in the USA Freedom Kids group, primary school children who sing patriotic songs at Trump rallies, to young supporters from the LGBT and African American community, Angela explores what motivates them to campaign for Donald Trump and why his message appeals to them.

Angela also meets those from a darker side of Trump’s fandom whom some have described as the ‘new generation of white nationalists’.

Damian Kavanagh, Controller BBC Three, says: “The US election will define the US and its relationship with the world for a generation, and Donald Trump is at the centre. We wanted Angela to see what his supporters had to say first-hand and why he resonates with them so much.”

Trump’s Youngest Superfans – 1x40 - BBC Current Affairs
Director, Leon Dean. Producer, Sarah Foudy. Executive Producer, Sarah Waldron
Commissioned by Damian Kavanagh and Joanna Carr, Commissioning Editor, BBC Current Affairs

Other shows in the collection

Brainwashing Stacey Dooley
In Brainwashing Stacey Dooley the eponymous documentarian immerses herself with groups whose views and activities are highly controversial - from sports hunting to pro-life youth training camps - to live, breathe and train under the watchful eye of experts and leaders within these intense ideological worlds.

Asian Provocateur
Bringing a lighter tone to the US collection is Romesh Ranganathan and his mum, who return to BBC Three with a new series of Asian Provocateur. The six-part series will follow the pair as they travel to the US and search for relatives they’ve never met, and explore what his life could have been like if they’d ended up somewhere other than Crawley.

Already slated for BBC Three in 2016 are Doctor Who YA spin-off Class from writer Patrick Ness, new series of Josh and Uncle, the next instalment of Drugs Map Of Britain, new comedy Sunny D, hit Aussie drama Cleverman, six brand new BBC Three Comedy Feeds, new documentaries from Professor Green, Reggie Yates and Stacey Dooley, plus seasons of content on mental health, drugs, sex and religion.

About BBC Three

In February 2016 BBC Three became the first TV channel in the world to switch online and now offers original British comedy, contemporary British drama, distinctive British documentaries and provocative current affairs programming made for a 16-34 audience.

The channel is available from The Best of Three and BBC Three on iPlayer on over 10,000 devices including Smart TVs, set top boxes, games consoles, native apps, streaming devices and browsers and across social media before being broadcast on BBC One or BBC Two.

Also launched in February 2016 BBC Three’s The Daily Drop offers a daily stream of content including news and sport, short films, written articles and third party links tailored for a 16-34 audience.

The Best Of Three: bbc.co.uk/bbcthree
The Daily Drop: bbc.co.uk/bbcthree/daily-drop
BBC Three on iPlayer: bbc.co.uk/tv/bbcthree
YouTube: youtube.com/bbcthree
Facebook: facebook.com/bbcthree
Twitter: twitter.com/bbcthree
Instagram: instagram.com/bbcthree
Tumblr: bbcthree.tumblr.com
Snapchat: bbcthree

Notes to Editors

• BBC Three drama Thirteen (Episode one) is the most requested show on BBC iPlayer in 2016 with 3m requests.
• BBC Three has seven of the top 20 most requested programmes on BBC iPlayer in 2016.
• BBC Three made up 4% of all BBC iPlayer requests at launch but now reaches over 10% in some weeks, from fewer programmes.
• Shows to pass the 1m request mark include Murdered By My Father, Thirteen, Cuckoo, Stacey Dooley's Sex In Strange Places, Life And Death Row, Reggie Yates The Insider, Jade: Why I Choose Porn, Fleabag and Drugs Map of Britain
• BBC Three shows on BBC One and BBC Two are at, or above slot average, and attracting 16-34s.
• BBC Three invests 20 percent of its £30m content budget in short form video, written articles, animation and native content for social media.
• BBC Three has doubled its YouTube subscribers and increased view time 300 percent since launch.
• BBC Three Facebook video Things People With Down's Syndrome Are Tired Of Hearing achieved 112k likes, 7k comments, 200k shares and 12.2m views in under a week.
• BBC Three’s Premier League/Anchorman season opener had over 300k shares, 200k likes, 50k comments and 21m views on BBC Three’s Facebook and even more on third part pages and with a further 11k shares and 11k likes on @BBCThree’s Twitter account.
• BBC Three has grown its social media subscribers and now has 1m likes on Facebook (Facebook: E4 768k, BuzzfeedUK 1.3m, ITV2 403k, ViceUK 60k) 721k Twitter followers (E4 117k, BuzzfeedUK 167k, ITV2 781k, Vice UK 378k) and 44k followers on Instagram (E4 5k, BuzzfeedUK 81k, ITV2 0, ViceUK 14k).
• BBC Three is innovating with new forms of content and platforms that allow a different form of storytelling. Stacey Dooley used Snapchat to report live from Cologne after the sex attacks and Unsolved used video and editorial across numerous platforms to investigate the real life disappearance of a 16 year-old boy.
• BBC Three’s move online was prompted by a need to make savings but also to address the rapidly changing way young people consume media. Recent reports have shown linear TV viewing in BBC Three's 16-34 target audience has fallen 27 percent over the last five years, that time spent online has tripled to 9hrs a day, and over 90 percent of 16-34s own a smartphone and have at least one social media account.

CW