MANILA – Iconic British newspaper The Economist brings its rich journalistic heritage spanning 171 years on video via a dedicated unit which will produce short films and documentaries.
Called Economist Films, it premiered last week with two series pilots for free viewing on a dedicated website. It includes “Drone Rangers” for the “Future Works” series which looks at the jobs of tomorrow done today and “Drugs: War or Store?” for the series “Global Compass,” examining the novel approaches to policy problems.
Economist Films’ documentaries will be delivered via the publisher’s social and digital platforms, complementing the daily and weekly output of the newspaper in both print and digital formats.
The video production units is lead by Nicholas Minter Green as president, of Economist Films. Joining him is Tom Standage, which expands its role as deputy editor at The Economist to now include editorial lead for Economist Films.
In a statement, The Economist expressed its long-term plans to produce short- and long-form content, both sponsored and commissioned, in a variety of program formats.
Variety reports that eight more episodes are in production and are scheduled to go live on September.
“This is a truly exciting moment as we begin sharing our first two films,” said Minter Green. “The work is the first fruit from an initiative to translate the world renowned Economist editorial into impactful and high end moving-image. We believe it will open up great possibilities to engage with our audience and commercial partners in a dynamic new way.”
“These films really capture the essence of The Economist, illustrating big global themes with detailed on-the-ground reporting, and a dash of humour,” said Standage. “This is an exciting new way for us to bring our distinctive editorial perspective to new audiences
