Manori Ravindran

Manori Ravindran: A Career Forged in Global Media Innovation

We’ve followed Manori Ravindran’s work as she evolved from a sociology graduate to one of the most authoritative voices analyzing international television and film industries. Her career reflects a rare combination of academic rigor and trade publication savvy, positioning her as a bridge between creative sectors and business realities.

From Academia to Trade Journalism

• Early Foundations (2010–2016): Cut her teeth at Canada’s Realscreen, mastering documentary and non-fiction markets while developing a signature style blending policy analysis with production insights.
• UK Market Immersion (2016–2020): As Broadcast’s international editor, she redefined coverage of cross-border financing models during the peak of the “Golden Age of TV,” breaking stories about Netflix’s European expansion strategies.
• Global Leadership (2020–2024): Transformed Variety’s international desk into a must-read for commissioning editors through investigative pieces like her 2022 exposé on tax incentive abuses in Eastern European co-productions.
• Current Chapter (2024–present): Brings two decades of institutional knowledge to The Ankler, focusing on systemic shifts in streaming economics and production infrastructure development.

Defining Works: Three Articles That Shaped Industry Discourse

• Unpacking the transatlantic talent battle (Broadcast, March 2025) This 4,000-word analysis dissected the growing competition for showrunners between UK indies and Hollywood studios. Ravindran revealed how new equity participation deals from companies like Bad Wolf are rewriting traditional royalty structures. Her interviews with 17 showrunners demonstrated a generational split in career priorities, with mid-career creators increasingly bypassing public service broadcasters for global streamer deals. The piece became essential reading during 2025’s BAFTA contract renewal negotiations.
• How the rise of the ‘showrunner’ role is changing British TV (Screen Daily, 2024) Through case studies of Sex Education and Slow Horses, Ravindran charted the cultural shift from writer-producer models to US-style showrunner systems. Her investigation uncovered how this transition impacts creative control, with particular attention to gender disparities in showrunner appointments. The article’s revelation that only 22% of UK showrunners are women sparked industry-wide diversity initiatives.
• Ireland’s “conveyer belt” of unscripted production (The Ankler, 2025) “What Dublin lacks in weather, it compensates for in tax breaks and hungry creatives—the new Rotterdam of reality TV.”
• This deep dive into Ireland’s €300M unscripted boom combined location scouting data with interviews about the country’s unique blend of public funding and private equity. Ravindran’s analysis predicted the 2026 contraction of Nordic noir production in favor of cost-effective reality formats, influencing commissioning strategies at Viaplay and RTL.

Strategic Pitching Guide: Aligning with Ravindran’s Coverage Priorities

1. Lead With International Financing Angles

With her extensive network across European funding bodies, Ravindran prioritizes stories exposing new co-production models. A successful 2024 pitch revealed how Spanish regional tax credits were being used to offset German streaming quotas. When approaching her, highlight cross-border investment mechanisms or regulatory arbitrage opportunities.

2. Surface Underreported Diversity Metrics

Her ongoing investigation into BAFTA’s inclusion requirements demonstrates a preference for data-driven equity stories. Pitch access to anonymized payroll data or workforce demographic studies that reveal systemic barriers in below-the-line roles rather than superficial talent initiatives.

3. Track the Globalization of Genre Trends

Ravindran’s coverage of K-drama’s influence on BBC period pieces shows her interest in format hybridization. Successful pitches map the migration of narrative structures across markets, like her 2023 piece on Turkish soap operas reshaping Latin American telenovelas.

4. Expose Streaming Platform Labor Practices

Following her groundbreaking work on Netflix’s freelance contractor policies, she remains keen on stories about algorithmic management in the creative industries. Pitch insider accounts of data-driven production decisions or VFX outsourcing patterns.

5. Analyze Public Media’s Tech Adaptation

With public broadcasters facing existential threats, Ravindran seeks case studies about successful digital pivots. Her acclaimed 2024 analysis of DR’s (Danish Broadcasting Corporation) TikTok-native drama format demonstrates appetite for innovative public service content strategies.

Industry Recognition and Thought Leadership

• 2024 RTS Journalism Award Finalist: Recognized for her Broadcast series on COVID-era insurance crises that paralyzed indie productions, which directly informed UK government indemnity schemes.
• Royal Television Society Regular Contributor: Her biannual reports on streaming market saturation are cited in Ofcom’s media diversity assessments.
• MIPCOM Power Players List (2023): The only trade journalist named among 50 industry leaders, reflecting her influence in shaping commissioning conversations.