Commissioning Timetable (Please note: late submissions will not be accepted)

Initial call for submissions starts: 24 May 2021

Zoom briefing: 24 May 2021 (Video available upon request.)

Deadline for initial submissions: 24 June 2021.

At this stage we require up to 500 words (details below).

Submit using this CBC Google Form.

Second stage for shortlisted submissions will begin:        13 July 2021

Deadline for second stage: 3 September 2021         

Results will be published in Proteus and on cbc.ca/pitch: End of September 2021

Contacts

Arif Noorani

Executive Producer, CBC Podcasts

arif.noorani@cbc.ca

Jon Manel

Podcast Commissioning Editor, BBC World Service

jon.manel@bbc.co.uk

Requirements

Stage 1

Maximum 500 words

Please outline the story, multi-episode treatment, your early thoughts about story arcs, key characters and how they will be developed. We require a draft budget and the number of episodes being proposed. Who will be the key members of your production team? Who will host this podcast? Do you have a Story Editor in mind?

Stage 2 (To start July 13, 2021 for selected shortlist.)

Maximum two pages

Please outline the story in detail. We require an episodic breakdown, more details on the development of story arcs and key characters.  We will ask for a more detailed proposed draft budget and more information about the production team. We will need your suggestions for digital treatment.

Editorial Opportunity

CBC Podcasts and the BBC World Service are working together to create a really exciting opportunity: a factual narrative podcast which we hope will be a major joint BBC WS/CBC series in 2022, with work beginning in 2021.

As two of the world’s leading podcast commissioners and creators, our ambition is to work with the supplier to deliver a truly brilliant and popular podcast, creating a significant impact on a global scale.

We are looking for a podcast to follow successful shows such as The Lazarus Heist, Escaping NXIVM, 13 Minutes to the Moon, Hunting Warhead, The Village and Death in Ice Valley. We have ambitious goals for it and are aiming to create a major podcast hit on BBC Sounds, CBC Listen and all podcast platforms.

• We are looking for an irresistible original and completely compelling factual story.

• The story could be really important contemporary journalism, a deep dive into an historic event or something completely different. We are ready to be convinced. It could be true crime, the re-telling of an old story through a new lens or something that we haven’t even thought of.  

• The strength of the story is crucial. Without an original “unputdownable” story that works over multiple episodes you won’t get this commission. There are plenty of incredible true stories out there but very few lend themselves to episodic storytelling. It's going to take a very special kind of story to become the idea that we choose for this podcast, with compelling characters and propulsive narrative drive.
  
• You will have to convince us that your story has the ingredients required to be a global hit and that you have the ambition and know-how to create one.

• This podcast needs to be unique – in the story, storytelling and treatment.

• You will be able to demonstrate why your proposal is a podcast series and not a radio series and how it will stand out among the hundreds of thousands of other podcasts that already exist.

• Creating a narrative episodic podcast that works successfully is difficult. We will need to be convinced that there can be a gripping narrative arc over the whole series, as well as within each episode.

• You will have firm ideas, which will be clear in your proposal, about who this podcast is for. This podcast must have ambitions to meet the audience goals of both CBC Podcasts and the BBC World Service.  We want to be among the most successful podcast-makers, in an extremely competitive market. We aim to reach audiences which are underserved by us and by podcasting. We want to bring premium-quality storytelling onto the world stage, driven by rich characters, strong narratives, allowing listeners, wherever they are, to immerse and engage. We are trying to reach new audiences around the world, particularly younger listeners and women and in countries where podcasting is still nascent. 

• We will need to have complete confidence in your team, as well as your idea. You will persuade us that the project has the right oversight, the perfect host and approach to presentation and the right producer(s).

• CBC Podcasts and the World Service will work closely with you to help create an amazing creative collaboration.

• Please consider how you might get listeners involved and make them feel part of a community around the podcast.
  
• This isn’t essential but, if successful, would your idea have any potential for a second season?

• What is the digital potential? Our podcasts live beyond the podcast itself and the digital roll-out, with videos, animations, etc. is essential to our mission to get our content to as wide a global audience as possible.  

• Funding for a pilot will be considered

• This is first and foremost a podcast but you are likely to be asked to create a linear radio version as part of the commission for BBC World Service Radio.

Podcast commissioning at BBC World Service English and CBC Podcasts is a collaborative process. If successful, the WS and CBC podcast teams will be closely involved in the production process and we may ask you to team up with a storytelling or podcast expert, as we seek to make our podcasts work as well as possible.

We want top class journalism but also require a lot of emphasis to be put on the production itself, with an expectation of multiple audio drafts of each episode being made before the final version is created.

Please consider all of these questions when creating your podcast proposal:   

Why does your story work as a multi-episode podcast? Does it have the story arcs required for this treatment?

Who are the key characters?

Who is/are the target audience(s)?

Why is this a podcast series and not a radio program/series?

How is this particularly suited to be a podcast?

What is it about the tone, presentation, storytelling and treatment that makes this proposal “podcasty”?

How will you get the listeners involved and make them feel part of a podcast community?

Why will your podcast stand out among the hundreds of thousands of other podcasts that exist?

What will get your podcast noticed – how should it be marketed?

Diversity & Inclusion

Diversity & Inclusion is a priority for ALL of us. The BBC and CBC are fully committed to making processes around commissioning and production a place where people feel welcomed, appreciated, respected, and that they can be themselves and produce their best work.

We commit to diverse teams, representative programmes and inclusive culture and will ensure we work with the indie sector to support diversity within our indie suppliers.

Additional information / delivery requirements:

• The production budget must cover all aspects of the production including guest fees, recording costs and expenses.
• It will be assumed that any elements included in proposals can be successfully delivered within the proposed budget
• Independent production companies submitting to CBC that are not already considered as approved suppliers by the BBC may be subject to the same or similar approval requirements and safety vetting.
• Production teams will be expected to adhere to all relevant editorial and copyright guidelines in place; to be responsible for third party rights clearances; and deliver all necessary production related paperwork in a timely fashion – e.g. Compliance Forms, Music Reporting Forms, etc.;
• The podcast is expected to be BBC and CBC branded and made available to listeners via BBC Sounds, CBC Listen and multiple podcast and audio streaming platforms worldwide
• Production credits will be given in line with applicable standard terms and guidelines

Data/Privacy

Personal information that you have provided to us in your submission including the names of your production team, contact addresses and countries of residence will be collected and processed.  

If your submission is made to the BBC, the BBC is the “data controller” of the information contained in your submission. This means that the BBC decides what your personal information is used for, and the ways in which it is processed. The BBC relies on its legitimate interests of reviewing and responding to submissions and for journalistic, artistic and literary purposes as the lawful basis for processing your personal data within the submission. CBC will be the data processor of that data for the purposes of this commission.

For more information on how the BBC uses personal data and your rights visit: https://www.bbc.co.uk/privacy/

For more information on how CBC uses personal data and your rights visit:  https://cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/impact-and-accountability/privacy