Our People

Sebastian – Business Manager, Television

I am a Business Manager within the Sales Operations Team of Twentieth Century Fox International Television Distribution based out of Fox’s Soho Square office in central London. There are five of us in the Sales Ops team and together we make sure that our broadcaster clients have everything they need to get our product on air after a handshake finalises a sale, from contracts and invoices to video tapes and promotional material

I arrive in the office between 9am and 9:30am every morning, leaving me plenty of time to sort out the important details of coffee and breakfast, over which I will digest everything that has happened overnight. With clients as far east as Kazakhstan and our head office based in LA, the stream of emails and phones calls never ceases, someone is always just arriving back in the office from lunch, or checking in for an update before heading home

On any given day I will try to concentrate my efforts on one of our 21 Output Deal clients, these are our biggest and hence most important and valuable deals. When a client signs an Output Agreement they are agreeing to license almost every single feature and television show that Fox produces over a given number of years, both the great and not so great, sight unseen. During each year of a deal our clients will also license a certain number of library titles - classic features and TV shows from Fox’s huge back catalogue. We help our clients choose whether to license Buffy or The Simpsons; Independence Day or The Sound of Music, depending on which is the best fit for their target audience. Once the agreed amount of product has been selected, we negotiate exact pricing on a title by title basis, we also agree with the client when the licenses will start so that they have enough time to schedule everything that they have acquired

The rest of the day will be taken up in meetings with the Sales Teams, during which they will keep us up to speed with ongoing negotiations - with 234 clients across 49 European, Middle Eastern and African countries they are always busy! We will also use these meetings to fine tune agreed, but unsigned deals, making sure that both Fox and our clients are agreed on exactly which rights have been licensed - which TV channels they are allowed to broadcast on, and whether the rights are exclusive, or if Fox are allowed to sell the same titles to another TV station

As the day draws to a close it is time to touch base with our friends in head office. Throughout the day we will have sent countless questions and updates. One thing you learn very fast is that while email is convenient and precise, there is no substitute for a more personal phone call, even if it’s just for gossip!