The Mavericks: John McVay, PACT

British indies are punchy with power and they've got John McVay to thank. As chief executive of the London-based Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television, McVay helped broker the U.K. TV industry's new Codes of Practice, which ensure producers the privilege of managing the secondary and ancillary rights of their programs. Fresh from that battle, which was won when OFCOM approved the Codes in January, McVay headed back to the negotiating table to hammer out Terms of Trade with the BBC and Channel 4. Nine months later he emerged with a few key victories, main among them the guarantee that producers will retain 85% of program revenues. In turn, commissioning broadcasters are entitled to 15% of the net revenues earned by a program's other rights.

November 1, 2004

British indies are punchy with power and they've got John McVay to thank. As chief executive of the London-based Producers Alliance for Cinema and Television, McVay helped broker the U.K. TV industry's new Codes of Practice, which ensure producers the privilege of managing the secondary and ancillary rights of their programs. Fresh from that battle, which was won when OFCOM approved the Codes in January, McVay headed back to the negotiating table to hammer out Terms of Trade with the BBC and Channel 4. Nine months later he emerged with a few key victories, main among them the guarantee that producers will retain 85% of program revenues. In turn, commissioning broadcasters are entitled to 15% of the net revenues earned by a program's other rights.