Behind the effluent Kath & Kim deal

More news today from behind the scenes of the sale of Kath and Kim to Seven.

The ABC continues to defend its position amid questions about why it did not have a watertight position to retain the hit series.

But prior to walking, producer Rick McKenna tried to nut out a workable deal with the broadcaster. Ultimately, to produce the series the way the girls wanted, the ABC would have had to axe other shows. The public broadcaster was hamstrung by its financial constraints.

Amongst the other interesting revelations are:

• Suggestion that this series is likely to include storylines with the girls away from Fountain Lakes, probably a Queensland island resort.
• Jane Turner and Gina Riley were absolute in retaining all 44 production crew.
• TEN’s offer was soft in the money department.
• Nine wavered on its offer thinking ABC had won.
• Part of Seven’s appeal was that it had introduced the girls to US Producer Ben Silverman, producer of Ugly Betty, who is now developing their US pilot.
• The budget for this series is between $5-7m.
• Leaking advance info of the series in production, including guest stars Shane Warne and Matt Lucas increased the value of the series prior to a deal being secured.
• Staying at the ABC would have meant other ABC productions would face the axe to meet budget demands.
• ABC had always owned a huge chunk of merchandise sales, a sore point for Riley and Turner.

What the report doesn’t mention is that Seven’s introduction of Ben Silverman could have also been facilitated by TEN.

Silverman’s Reveille productions has a cozy deal with TEN that has seen it air The Biggest Loser, The Office, 30 Days, The $25m Hoax and The Restaurant. TEN missed out on Ugly Betty because Reveille produces it with Buena Vista (Disney) with which Seven has an output deal.

He is currently producer of Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?

Full story in The Australian.