How Brands Can Fill Your Funding Gap - If You Do the Right Homework
Banijay's commercial expert reveals the secrets to brand buy-in
“We’d love to make this show, but there’s just not enough money.”
It’s a line that’s intensely familiar - and maybe even a little triggering - to any producer. Two years ago, the very suggestion of a brand to bridge a funding gap felt anathema to some TV commissioners. But in 2026, there is more open-mindedness around brand-funded entertainment than ever before.
“That’s what’s changed,” says Carlotta Rossi Spencer, global head of branded entertainment business development at Banijay. “Instead of a producer saying, ‘I can’t bring the budget down. I won’t get this commission,’ the answer can be, ‘Can we look for a brand or brands?’ And if the answer’s ‘yes,’ then you have an opportunity.”
Shows such as Prime Video’s The World Cook and ITV’s The Great Escapers have both been made in partnership with travel brands such as Tui and Jet2.com, respectively, while M&S has helped to fund both ITV’s Cooking With the Stars and Dress the Nation. In the U.S., brands such as Procter & Gamble are even leaning into the vertical drama craze for their own entertainment play. The consumer products giant launched its 55-part microsoap The Golden Pear Affair directly on a dedicated website.
However, the chasm between a desire to bring a brand on board, and the reality of securing one, has proved to be a hurdle for many well-intentioned indies who have discovered the hard way that the world of advertisers and media agencies don’t tend to align with the traditional TV production ecosystem.
In the last two years, executives such as Banijay’s Rossi Spencer, who came up in format development, have chartered new territory for brand partnerships in TV. What kind of research is essential in your pitch to a brand? When is the right time of year to approach them? Who, exactly, do you approach?
This week, she opens up her playbook for The Indie Hustle, sharing essential advice for any producer interested in setting up a brand-funded entertainment production.
Read on to learn more about:
The three most common entry points for brand outreach
Why studying a brand’s marketing strategy from the outset is crucial
The best contacts on the brand side to hear your pitch
Why media agencies can be a TV producer’s friend
The minimum investment you should expect from a brand
Why vertical dramas are helping brands get into scripted
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