Performers fixed on emulating the screen success of Baby Reindeer risking 'magic of the Fringe'

Speaking at an industry panel event at venue Shedinburgh, TV executives and Fringe producers warned too many artists are trying to "back engineer" their stage work into something that they believe could become a screen hit in the style of Richard Gadd's work, or Jade Franks' Eat the Rich (But Maybe Not Me Mates x) which sparked a bidding war after last year's Fringe and is now set to be turned into a Netflix TV series.

Simon Hurdon, manager at Los Angeles-based talent management firm Curate, scouts for new talent at the Fringe.

He said: “They [artists] can be kind of pernicious about trying to reverse engineer the show into something that has appeal for TV or film. But you’re losing the magic of what comes with just being able to make cool s**t for the Fringe.”

He added: “I’m a film and TV manager, but the magic really comes from an Eat The Rich type show, where - and I can’t know whether Jade had ambitions of this being a TV show - but she had her story to tell and just had this yearning for getting it on the page and on the stage - and that’s where the magic happens.”

Ms Franks’ show - a play based on her own experiences of being a young working-class woman from Liverpool and attending the prestigious Cambridge University - was one of the standout success stories of last year’s Fringe, receiving praise and a coveted Fringe First Award.

In November, it was revealed that Netflix had won the rights and launched into early stage development on the series, with Adolescence director Philip Barantini‘s It’s All Made Up Productions driving the project.

The event - Anatomy of a Crossover: How a Fringe Idea Becomes a Screen Hit, chaired by Scottish playwright and screenwriter Kieran Hurley - is part of a series of ShedX talks held by the venue, which is run by Francesca Moody, producer of the original Fringe versions of both Baby Reindeer and Fleabag, which became major TV series.

Natalie Denton, development producer at Pleasance, said the concept of shows becoming a financial success of TV or film is “always on my mind”.

She said: “It’s kind of a very undeniable thing now, so we’re very conscious of it, I’m always thinking about it.

“I start having conversations with artists very early on who want to talk about the future life of their work. We talk about touring and programming onwards [after the Fringe], but also screening adaptations. Naturally, from a financial point of view, it’s something to be thinking about, even just getting your show developed [but not made] is money.”

She added: “There is definitely a romanticism about the Fringe that TV producers and film producers have, because that’s where you’re seeing stuff right at the beginning - an as a development person, I love seeing stuff when it’s really raw.”

She warned that TV producers like the “drive” of a sold-out show, even if another show technically sells more tickets.

“Artists in smaller venues obviously sell out faster, that becomes a whole heat around something,” she said. “It’s the difference between selling out [a 60 seater] or having a 150 seat venue and getting 100 people in every day, that doesn’t have the drive of a sold-out show, it’s crazy.”