TV Formats MIPTV 2016

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TVFORMATS

WWW.TVFORMATS.WS

APRIL 2016

Scripted Formats / Dating & Marriage Shows BBC Worldwide’s Kate Phillips / Banijay Group’s Grant Ross

MIPFORMATS & MIPTV EDITION

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CONTENTS FEATURES

Get Real!

There has been a massive amount of drama programming dominating the airwaves in many countries, which brings up a question regarding the role of unscripted entertainment shows in viewers’ media diets and buyers’ budgets.

Ricardo Seguin Guise Publisher Anna Carugati Group Editorial Director Mansha Daswani Editor Kristin Brzoznowski Executive Editor Joanna Padovano Managing Editor Sara Alessi Joel Marino Associate Editors Victor L. Cuevas Production & Design Director Phyllis Q. Busell Art Director Simon Weaver Online Director Dana Mattison Senior Sales & Marketing Manager Elizabeth Walsh Sales & Marketing Manager Andrea Moreno Business Affairs Manager

Ricardo Seguin Guise President Anna Carugati Executive VP Mansha Daswani Associate Publisher & VP of Strategic Development TV Formats © 2016 WSN INC. 1123 Broadway, #1207 New York, NY 10010 Phone: (212) 924-7620 Fax: (212) 924-6940 Website: www.tvformats.ws

The period pieces, thrillers, genre series, noirs and other types of dramas anchoring prime time in many markets are generally quite costly propositions, both in terms of developing high-quality originals and acquiring high-profile international fare. This has left many channels looking for low-cost, high-volume options to fill out the rest of their schedules. And this is one of the many reasons that buyers love the latest crop of realitybased formats, which are in vogue nowadays: they provide a lot of bang for their buck.

Indeed, the word “authentic” comes up quite frequently when distributors are asked what types of formats are currently most in-demand. There has been a rise in the so-called social-experiment format, which looks to capture how people react in certain (producermanufactured) situations. Another current trend is that dating formats are back in a big way, a topic that we explore in-depth in this issue of TV Formats. Also, cooking, dancing, singing and survival have all persisted in their popularity. Even these genres tend to be less “produced” in their current iterations, looking more at the people taking part in the series and their backstories. The renewed focus on real reality is perhaps a rejection of some of the more heavily produced, semiscripted entertainment shows of recent years, or even a reaction to the wave of dark and complex drama series that are dominating the airwaves in so many countries globally.

Nevertheless, the market for scripted formats is booming, as they can help save on time and development spending, as well as minimize risk for buyers looking for drama and comedy fare. The challenges and rewards of scripted formats are examined in a special report in this edition.

TV Formats also hears from BBC Worldwide’s Kate Phillips and Banijay Group’s Grant Ross, who both discuss the key elements to successfully replicating a format, scripted or non-scripted, in multiple countries.

Phillips agrees that for a format to resonate in the global marketplace today it has to have something “real at its heart.”

—Kristin Brzoznowski

28 SEEING DOUBLE

28

A range of distributors discuss the new opportunities in the scripted-formats business.

38 LOVE RULES

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The latest trends in formats focused on dating, love and marriage.

54 FOOTBALL NIGHTMARES A case study of this new FremantleMedia format, co-developed with Italian football veteran Gianluca Vialli.

INTERVIEWS

46

BBC Worldwide’s Kate Phillips

52

Banijay Group’s Grant Ross

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Armoza Formats Wrecking Ball / The Foodies / Local Heroes Armoza Formats’s new studio game show Wrecking Ball sees a team of three contestants face four giant wrecking balls and nine increasingly difficult questions for the chance to win $250,000. “As well as heightening the stakes of the game, the wrecking balls add a combination of drama and humor at every stage, making it a thrilling and authentic viewing experience,” says Avi Armoza, the company’s founder and CEO. “This authentic viewing experience is a perspective that broadcasters are looking for across all genres, and is what we are bringing with the launch of our new factual-entertainment show The Foodies.” Armoza Formats is also launching the docureality format Local Heroes.

“From powerful factual formats and drama to hardhitting game shows and side-splitting comedy, all of our launches are set to knock viewers off their feet.”

—Avi Armoza Local Heroes

BBC Worldwide The Getaway Car / Ultimate Hell Week / Doctor Foster Positioned as a family entertainment show, The Getaway Car watches as a couple’s relationship is put to the test in the intimate space of a car. “With great sponsorship and advertising opportunities, this format offers an exciting prime-time package for broadcasters,” says Suzanne Kendrick, the head of global format sales at BBC Worldwide. Ultimate Hell Week, meanwhile, taps into the trend of ordinary people taking on military-style endurance events. There are also scripted formats on offer, including the drama Doctor Foster, which looks at a marriage from the inside as it starts to unravel due to infidelity. The series will be returning to BBC One for a second season. “Formats remain at the heart of BBC Worldwide’s strategy,” says Kendrick.

“With over 150 active non-scripted formats and over 50 scripted formats, we have a real breadth and variety of titles to talk through with clients at this year’s market.”

—Suzanne Kendrick Doctor Foster

CJ E&M Look What Your Hubby Did /The Acting School /We Kid Combining home makeovers and pranks, Look What Your Hubby Did sees a husband who (without his wife’s knowledge) remodels part of their home to feature his favorite retired hobby. CJ E&M is presenting that format to buyers, along with The Acting School, which follows actors who are being trained to improve their skills and advance their careers. “Seeing the famous actors humbled by a strict teacher, unusual acting exercises and the modest conditions of the boarding school triggers feelings of nostalgia and the universal desire for approval and improvement,” Jangho Seo, CJ E&M’s head of international sales and acquisitions, says of The Acting School.

Then there is We Kid, a music entertainment show in which children, celebrities and a composer collaborate on new songs.

“We Kid is an all-ages show that highlights the innocence, charm and pure emotions of 12 highly talented children.”

—Jangho Seo We Kid 252 World Screen 4/16

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Eccho Rights Queue Up / u:Supporters / Entrepreneurs Eccho Rights specializes in representing top producers from around the world, and its format highlights for MIPTV hail from a diverse range of territories. For example, Queue Up is a new family game show that recently launched on TRT in Turkey and is produced by Sera Film. “The format is a great mix of intelligence, knowledge and family bonds,” says Fredrik af Malmborg, the managing director at Eccho Rights. “The ratings are very good in Turkey and the format has just been commissioned for a second season.” The eSports-based u:Supporters format is from Uncle Ned for TV4 in Sweden. Af Malmborg says the format has a “very clever link between the growing field of computer games and real-life sports and television.” Entrepreneurs is a project from Saga Film in Iceland.

“Eccho Rights has extensive experience in launching formats worldwide. Our roots are very much producerbased and we see a returning demand for strong entertainment formats and also scripted formats.”

—Fredrik af Malmborg u:Supporters

Electus International Separation Anxiety / Winsanity / Food Fighters Produced for TBS in the U.S., Separation Anxiety is billed as “the game show you don’t know you’re on.” Electus International will be looking to license the format at MIPTV, in addition to talking to buyers about Winsanity. In this series, which airs on GSN in the U.S., members of the studio audience win a prize each time a contestant does.

John Pollak, Electus International’s president of global distribution and Electus Studios, says that these game shows “break through a very crowded market because they are unique; they are unlike any game show we have seen rolled out in quite some time.” Food Fighters, also a highlight for the company, has had two seasons air in the U.S. on NBC and the format has been licensed in a dozen territories.

“Each one of these titles stands out because of its truly engaging and one-of-akind creative auspice.”

—John Pollak Food Fighters

FOX School for Husbands / Sleeping with the Enemy / Brain Games The series Brain Games has been a hit for National Geographic Channel in the U.S., and FOX is now licensing the format for local adaptations. “This program has already proven to be a ratings success and has longevity, which is something broadcasters are always looking for,” says Jess Khanom, the head of global format sales at FOX. Another top title on the format slate is School for Husbands, which tackles various marital problems. “The lighthearted take on this format makes it adaptable to most countries,” says Khanom. In the social-experiment genre, Sleeping with the Enemy explores what happens when two people with completely opposite personalities are forced to live together.

“Sleeping with the Enemy will work globally, as viewers can’t get enough of social experiments, which usually result in great reality television.”

—Jess Khanom Sleeping with the Enemy 254 World Screen 4/16

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FremantleMedia Bang on the Money /Football Nightmares/My First Holiday The prime-time family game show Bang on the Money is launching on ITV in the U.K. this spring. The format, from the FremantleMedia catalogue, looks on as two teams of young people face a series of studio challenges for the chance to win a cash prize. Another highlight is Football Nightmares, a sportsthemed format developed with football legend Gianluca Vialli.

“Football Nightmares combines drama, excitement and love for the beautiful game as two ex-professional players embark on a mission to restore the confidence of failing amateur football teams,” says Rob Clark, FremantleMedia’s director of global entertainment. The company is also presenting My First Holiday, a format that sees real people experience a foreign vacation for the very first time.

“This MIPTV we have gone back to the basics of great storytelling, authentic characters and feel-good, fresh television.”

—Rob Clark Bang on the Money

Global Agency The Legend / Cooking Roulette / The Wedding Race With the high-stakes singing talent show The Legend, Global Agency believes it has found “the next big thing, a format that the industry has been waiting for for a long time,” says Umay Ayaz, the company’s head of acquisitions. “It has a big new twist, which gives the power to the contestants to write their own destiny.” Global Agency’s new launches also include Cooking Roulette, a studio-based cooking show in which contestants select their utensils and ingredients while blindfolded, and The Wedding Race, a reality show designed to test whether a young couple is experiencing true love or just a passing admiration. “We will be watching this process full of emotion and excitement to see if they survive the challenges or not,” says Ayaz.

“We’ve been consistently adding very strong projects to our catalogue, and we will continue to add many more groundbreaking hits.”

—Umay Ayaz The Legend

ITV-Inter Medya Join Instant / Fifty Fifty / Answer If You Can! Having solidified its reputation as a supplier of successful Turkish dramas, ITV-Inter Medya is now ready to conquer the format arena with titles such as Join Instant. This game-show format uses second-screen technology to allow viewers at home to participate in the series. The company has also developed the game show Fifty Fifty.

Can Okan, the president and CEO of ITV-Inter Medya, calls it “the most dramatic quiz show,” as it makes the winning contestant share half of the money with the other contestants. Meanwhile, Answer If You Can! plays on participants’ fears, weaknesses and habits, challenging them to answer specific questions while facing uncomfortable distractions.

“Our creative team has been working on developing new and unique game-show formats for almost one year, and we plan to surprise people with the variety of our catalogue.”

—Can Okan Join Instant 256 World Screen 4/16

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KABO International Ciao Darwin / Our Crazy Family / Who’s Who? Six seasons of Ciao Darwin have been produced so far and season seven will premiere on Italy’s Canale 5 this spring. KABO International is licensing the format rights for the show, which features two teams comprised of people with opposite characteristics (men vs. women, young vs. old, fat vs. thin, etc.) battling it out in various challenges. Further highlights from KABO International include the scripted comedy Our Crazy Family and the entertainment game show Who’s Who? “These formats transcend cultural borders and deliver the right quota of humor and entertainment, and therefore can be adapted to any market,” says Arabelle Pouliot-Di Crescenzo, the company’s managing director.

“KABO International is committed to building a catalogue of handpicked, high-quality formats, and we are looking for unique third-party formats available for international distribution.”

—Arabelle Pouliot-Di Crescenzo Ciao Darwin

Keshet International Touch / The A Word / Battle of the Chefs The cross-media format Touch, which is being launched by Keshet International, enables audiences to play against contestants in the studio while the show is on air and against each other offline whenever they’d like. The series is based on a simple and visual concept of, What is wrong with this picture?

“It’s highly addictive and has already created a loyal following in Israel,” says Keren Shahar, the company’s managing director of distribution. The cooking format Battle of the Chefs features an international culinary competition at its core, while The A Word is a scripted drama centered on the interplay of parenthood and childhood and what it is like to have a child who fails to fit the mold. The A Word is a BBC One drama that was adapted from an award-winning Israeli series.

“This is an exciting year for Keshet International, as we continue to expand our digital and drama offerings and bring more original formats to buyers.”

—Keren Shahar Touch

Like It Love It International The Lyrics Board This year marks the 25th season of The Lyrics Board on public broadcasters NRK in Norway and SVT in Sweden. Co-created

by Andy Ruane, who is the managing director of Like It Love It International, the prime-time format has traveled to nearly 40 countries. In the show, a line from a song is hidden behind “The Lyrics Board” and two teams must guess what song the line is from. The teams feature two pianos and two piano-playing team captains who are each joined by two singing celebrities. It typically takes about three reveals to guess what song the line is from. “The Lyrics Board is a classic, long-running celebrity game show,” says Ruane.

“After 25 years, the format is getting ready to travel to North and South America. Here’s to the next 25 years!”

“The Lyrics Board is the most successful music game show in the world.”

—Andy Ruane The Lyrics Board 258 World Screen 4/16

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Nordic World Sexy in 60 Minutes / The Stream / The Homeless Experience TV 2 Norway has teamed up with three of the biggest record labels in search of the country’s most popular new artist in The Stream, which Nordic World is licensing as a format. The show follows the process of how new talent is discovered in the music business today, through a combination of streaming music and live performances. “It is really a fresh angle, version 2.0 in many ways, of the classic talent genre,” says Ann Christin Siljan, Nordic World’s VP of acquisitions. The company also has in its formats catalogue the makeover show Sexy in 60 Minutes and the factual-entertainment series The Homeless Experience. Siljan believes that the “fresh honesty” of The Homeless Experience, combined with “a surprisingly warm feeling,” offers something new for the audience.

“We are looking for fresh formats that bring something new to a genre and, most importantly, that correspond with the ever-changing trends in the modern media landscape.”

—Ann Christin Siljan The Stream

Pol-ka Producciones Killer Women /Cunning Girls /Los Ricos No Piden Permiso Killer Women, a Pol-ka Producciones title distributed by MediaBiz, has been selling as a format worldwide for a decade. “It’s based on real stories of everyday women who for some reason decided to kill their partner,” says Alex Lagomarsino, the CEO of MediaBiz. “The way the stories are told has been key to the success of the show.” According to Lagomarsino, the scripts can be adapted to fit local tastes and can be tweaked to showcase local criminal cases. “That happened in Italy,” Lagomarsino says. “They took one or two cases that happened in Italy and incorporated them into the series.” At MIPTV, MediaBiz is also offering scripted fare such as Los Ricos No Piden Permiso, Cunning Girls and the thriller Signs.

“Pol-ka is one of the main producers in Latin America. When someone gets one of our formats, we provide the knowledge and know-how that Pol-ka has gained from producing that series.”

—Alex Lagomarsino Cunning Girls

Red Arrow International My Diet Is Better Than Yours / Kiss Bang Love / The Day the Cash Came Formats remain a top priority for Red Arrow International, according to Henrik Pabst, the company’s managing director, “building on the global success we continue to enjoy with shows such as Married at First Sight, House Rules and Real Men.” Among the company’s highlights are the reality format My Diet Is Better Than Yours, developed for ABC in the U.S., and the dating show Kiss Bang Love, which enjoyed a strong performance on ProSieben in Germany. The Day the Cash Came is touted

by Pabst as a “groundbreaking new social experiment,” as it watches what families living below the poverty line do when they’re given a life-changing amount of money with no strings attached to how it’s spent.

“Our formats slate at MIPTV highlights our commitment to working with some of the world’s top creative talent across entertainment, reality and comedy.”

—Henrik Pabst My Diet Is Better Than Yours 260 World Screen 4/16

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Secuoya Content Distribution Selfie Show / LubDub / TimeBox Secuoya Content Distribution represents the rights for the programming and formats developed by the companies of Grupo Secuoya, as well as other Spanish and international producers. The top market highlights for Secuoya Content Distribution are TimeBox, a reality show in which messages are placed inside containers and locked away for up to a year; the kids’ talent showcase Selfie Show; and LubDub, a talent competition in which a device hooked up to judges and members of a studio audience measures votes based on emotions. “These three titles show the wide range of genres that Secuoya Content Distribution works with,” says José Miguel Barrera, the company’s head of international.

“As an international company, we are always focused on the creation of content for the global market.”

—José Miguel Barrera LubDub

Televisa Internacional Trivia Crack / Mini Me / Date My Avatar Game shows represent a large part of Televisa Internacional’s expanding formats catalogue, with titles such as The Assembly Game, Generation Gap and The Wacky Old Games. In Cannes, the company is debuting Trivia Crack, a quiz show based on a popular app, and the dating format Date My Avatar. The latter is a format with a twist: contestants must use an earphone to guide a person, often the physical opposite of them, through a date. “We’re always looking to be on the cutting edge of where the market is going by offering formats with unique, original and flexible twists in terms of content and programming,” says Ricardo Ehrsam, the general director of entertainment formats for Televisa Internacional.

Also on the slate is the teen talent show Mini Me.

“We take chances on big, new ideas and turn them into reality.”

—Ricardo Ehrsam Mini Me

Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution Modern Family / Bones / The Oaks The U.S. series Modern Family has won a record of five consecutive Emmy Awards for outstanding comedy series, as well as a Golden Globe for best comedy series.

Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution is making the format of the comedy available for international buyers. The company is licensing the format rights for the procedural Bones as well. Also available as a format is The Oaks, based on a U.S. pilot script written by David Schulner and developed into two short-format series, Marchlands (U.K.) and Lightfields (U.K.). Each story follows the lives of three families, in different time periods, who move into the same house, and they are all haunted by a restless spirit.

Bones 262 World Screen 4/16

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Twofour Rights This Time Next Year / Get Me to the Church on Time / The Indian Dream Hotel In the format This Time Next Year, everyday people pledge to make a major change and embark on a 12-month mission to transform their lives in various ways. Twofour Rights is distributing the title, which has a U.K. version launching later this year on ITV. Meanwhile, Get Me to the Church on Time is a new adventure reality format that sees brides and grooms waking up thousands of miles from home with just 72 hours to get back in time for their own wedding. “It’s the ultimate fish-out-of-water, race-against-time challenge, packed with humor and jeopardy, which is perfect entertainment,” says Anthony Appell, the head of sales at Twofour Rights. In the social-experiment arena is The Indian Dream Hotel, which Appell describes as “entertaining and moving.”

“As a leading producer of innovative global programming, we have confidence in the formats we produce and it’s an exciting year ahead for Twofour.”

—Anthony Appell Get Me to the Church on Time

WDR mediagroup Moral Springs / The Laugh of Others / Autumn Tingles The scripted format Moral Springs looks on as a man from the big city returns to his small-town roots. “Its subliminal and slightly morbid kind of humor makes the format truly special,” says Stefanie Fischer, the head of content at WDR mediagroup, which is promoting the title at MIPTV. In the format The Laugh of Others, the hosts immerse themselves in some of society’s niches and less-known environments to make the people who live there laugh about themselves. “The format offers a genuine and exceptional way to deal with serious matters by means of humor, which makes it relevant for societies all over the world,” Fischer says. The universal topics of romance and aging are at the center of Autumn Tingles, in which senior citizens meet at a speed-dating event.

“As WDR’s commercial subsidiary, we have exclusive access to the high-quality programs produced

by Germany’s biggest regional public broadcaster.”

—Stefanie Fischer Autumn Tingles

Zodiak Rights Killer Roads / The Legends Club / Wonderkids Zodiak Rights will be at MIPTV talking to buyers about some of the established classics as well as brand-new propositions from the newly combined Zodiak and Banijay catalogue. Killer Roads is a new factual-entertainment format from Zodiak Nederland. “Its innovative use of highly portable cameras allows viewers to see perilous roads in groundbreaking detail, and its subject matter is urgent and relevant for viewers around the world,” says Tim Mutimer, the CEO of Zodiak Rights. Also in the genre of factual entertainment, The Legends Club is a Banijay Finland title that takes an intimate look into the lives of sports stars. From Nordisk Film TV, Wonderkids is an entertainment show that looks to discover the country’s most talented young artists

“Wonderkids was a big hit for Nordisk on Saturday nights on DR1 in Denmark last year and felt like a refreshing return to a more traditional type of talent show.”

—Tim Mutimer Wonderkids 264 World Screen 4/16

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Mediaset’s Fury, The Wind of Hope.

SEEING DOUBLE

A range of distributors tell Mansha Daswani about the new opportunities in the booming scripted-formats business. arely a week goes by in the U.S. without there being news of some American entity optioning, piloting or ordering to series a show based on a hit drama from abroad. Of note, USA Network is prepping a version of the Norwegian thriller Eyewitness. AMC (home to Humans, a remake of the Scandi hit Real Humans), is working on Broke, inspired by the Danish series Bankerot. NBC is soon launching Game of Silence, marking the first time a Turkish scripted series (Global Agency’s Suskunlar) has been formatted in the U.S. To be sure, this is not a new development—American platforms have long been remaking successful series from foreign shores (way back in 1977, the U.K.’s Man About the House inspired Three’s Company). There have been many hits since then and a fair share of misses. But the recent increased activity in North America corresponds with a boom in the scripted-

B

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formats genre across the globe. And not coincidentally, it comes at the same time as the drama business in general is reaching new highs worldwide.

GOLD RUSH “At the moment on the international market and in local territories, writing talent is gold dust,” observes Sarah Doole, the director of global drama at FremantleMedia. “The best writing talent is a rare commodity in television at the moment. You may be in a territory where actually you haven’t got that much homegrown writing talent, or you may be in a territory where you just can’t get to the writing talent because they are so busy.”

Taking an existing script and customizing it for your territory “fast-tracks your development process,” Doole notes. “It means you can probably have a show on air in six months as opposed to three years!”

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The BBC ordered a British version of Keshet’s The A Word for launch this spring.

benefits of having a local version on their channels.”

Adaptations that have done well for Fox include 24, heading into a second season in India with Bollywood star Anil Kapoor taking on the role made famous

by Kiefer Sutherland, and The Oaks, versioned in France as Le secret d’Elise for TF1.

Manuela Caputi, the head of international sales for the Mediaset catalogue at Mediaset Distribution, references the format success of series that have done well in Italy on Canale 5 in prime time. “We have a track record in terms of share and good ratings and all these elements are very important for the international market, which is very competitive,” Caputi states, highlighting shows like Fury, The Wind of Hope.

Drivers of her format strategy include A Matter of Respect, which has been a hit for Kanal D in Turkey, and Tuscan Passion, also adapted by Kanal D and recently acquired by Televisa for Mexico.

At Keshet International, Keren Shahar, managing director of distribution, says that a look at the company’s year-end results for 2015 show a distinct increase in revenues from scripted formats.

“Adapting a drama format gives you essentially the same advantages as a non-scripted format: it saves you development time and development spend,” she notes. “You have the characters figured out, you have the scripts, you know how the series is going to look, so your time to market is much [shorter].”

TO FORMAT, OR NOT TO FORMAT? Nicola Söderlund, managing partner at Eccho Rights, says Of course, not every drama or comedy has format potential. the company has done 12 licenses and 8 options on its scripted “People think, I have a script so I have a format,” observes Alex formats over the last 24 months. “Drama has boomed over the Lagomarsino, CEO and partner at MediaBiz, which represents last year,” Söderlund says. “To develop a well-crafted script writers, directors and producers across Latin America. “No, no, takes a long time. The production community simply does not no! One thing is to have a script; another thing is to have a forhave enough time to do that. It’s so much easier to start with a mat. A format is something you can duplicate. It’s something series that works well—where the top-line development is where you can change the actors, but the topics are universal.” done well and character development is done well. You save a “The kind of formats that have that potential in scripted are lot of time and effort on that. Also, the most difficult thing for a few and far between,” adds Arabelle Pouliot-Di Crescenzo, the writer is to find an original premise, something that makes a great story.”

Outside of saving on development time, formats can also give broadcasters peace of mind in this ultra-competitive scripted market.

“You can say to the broadcaster: this worked really well in England or Australia or Germany or wherever,” Doole says. “That de-risks it slightly for your local broadcaster.”

Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution is capitalizing on the global success of its U.S. drama and comedy brands, among them Modern Family, Prison Break and How I Met Your Mother, to drive its scripted-format business. Those shows, says Erika Saito, VP of sales, “have a lot of scripts, there’s a lot of worldwide [awareness about] them, universal themes are at the heart of them, and local production companies and broadcasters are very familiar with the brands. They can envision the Following its success in Australia, FremantleMedia’s Wentworth was adapted in the Netherlands as Celblok H.

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The Turkish drama Ezel has been one of the biggest scripted-format sellers for Eccho Rights.

managing director of KABO International, which is repping the output of French production outfit KABO Family as well as third-party fare. “Every country has a great scripted show about a bunch of friends living in an apartment or about a family. All those things can be huge in the local market but not necessarily formattable.”

KABO International, launched in late 2014, has done well with its scripted-comedy format Our Crazy Family. Based on a show airing on M6 in France, a version is up and running in Greece, with options in Canada, Germany and Spain; deals pending in Latin America and interest from Central and Eastern Europe.

“What makes our show formattable is the way it’s structured and the quality of the scripts,” Pouliot-Di Crescenzo says.

“It’s hard to find a scripted format that has that potential, but when you have it, there are no limits in terms of selling it.”

The universal principles in the Argentine romantic comedy Ciega a Citas are driving its format value at Dori Media Group, notes Revital Basel, the company’s VP of sales. Ciega a Citas has been produced in Chile, Russia, Poland, Germany, Spain and now China. “Ciega a Citas’s story revolves around the dating world, which is global and always relevant everywhere.

[It’s a] modern Bridget Jones in the TV world,” states Basel.

Dori Media also did well with the In Treatment format, remade in 18 markets. Basel calls the show, which focuses on a therapist and his patients, the “most-sold Israeli scripted format ever.” On what is behind its success, she says, “It can happen in Tel Aviv, Beijing, New York, Paris or any place in the world. It’s easily adapted to any culture, religion and mentality.

It’s cost-effective to produce—most of the money is spent on talent, both on screen and off. It can be watched as a daily or as a weekly show.”

CULTURE CLASH While they certainly can make life easier for commissioners with local slots to fill, scripted formats come with their fair share of challenges.

“You have to work on the correct adaptation and it takes time,” says MediaBiz’s Lagomarsino. “Many people will get the script, change a name from John to Juan and believe they have [an adaptation].”

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Lagomarsino has been involved in many successful reversionings, including Desperate Housewives across Latin America and the Killer Women format in a number of territories, including Italy. In the U.S. however, Killer Women, despite its high-profile credentials in front of and behind the camera, was cancelled after just one season on ABC. “They put in [a character who was a] Texas Ranger,” Lagomarsino says. “No one had done that in the Latin American versions. They believed that was the best path. For me, the mistake they made is they didn’t understand that [maintaining] the way of telling the story and keeping the character profiles were key in all the regions [where it worked].”

CREATIVE CALIBRATION For Shahar at Keshet, whose scripted-drama portfolio includes Prisoners of War, The Gordin Cell and The A Word, “The big challenge in formats is really balancing the DNA of the original creation with the local writer’s voice. That writer has been chosen because they are the best possible partner, and naturally he or she will have their own creative flair and style and they will see the concept from a different perspective. From my experience that’s probably the biggest challenge in scripted adaptations, but it’s all part of the process of making a new version feel like it is from the country it is being made for.”

Söderlund at Eccho Rights, which has had particular success formatting its Turkish dramas Ezel and The End, echoes the views expressed by Shahar. “The biggest challenge for us is finding the balance between producers making it their own story and not changing so much that it loses the basic mechanisms that make it work. The characters and how they develop in the story, the plot lines and how they work, how a scene is constructed to drive the story forward—as long as you keep those basic elements, you can make the surface different: the culture, the places, the settings. But you need to keep the basic story lines intact. If producers change too much of a format, it loses its identity.”

Determining how much leeway to give a local producer “varies from format to format, from creator to creator,” says Dori Media’s Basel. “For example, the formula of In Treatment is very strict, and local changes are [minor]. Other formats have more options for local adaptations. Ciega a Citas for example,

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KABO’s Our Crazy Family originated in France on M6 and has been versioned in Greece.

adapted in Chile, is different from the original Argentinean format. The local production team did not want to focus on the mainstream dating world, but more on the ‘second round’ after years of not dating. The story was changed to tell the story of a woman who splits from her spouse after many years and needs to start dating all over again. The basic elements are kept, but the story is told from a different angle.”

BEING HUMAN “We understand that different cultures require local interpretation and adaptation,” Mediaset’s Caputi says, adding that “universal archetypes” in characters make the reversioning process much smoother.

With some scripted formats, the biggest hurdle is trying to figure out how to replicate a show where the original has a significant Hollywood budget. Such is the case with Fox’s Bones, which was recently adapted in Russia. “They produced it for a fraction of what the U.S. budget is,” says Saito. “The biggest challenge we have with selling Bones is the cost. International productions don’t typically have access to the same budgets we have here [in the U.S.]. We would like to see Bones up and running in more territories, but we have to figure out how to make it cost-effective for our clients.”

Discussing the challenges of adaptations, FremantleMedia’s Doole makes a distinction between remakes and reversions. In the case of a remake, “you’re taking the original premise and you’re using the original scripts,” as was done with the Australian drama Wentworth, which has been adapted in the Netherlands and Germany. “They used the original set plans, the original costume designs, the whole process of how that show was made. They learned from [Australia] and that really helped them get that show away quickly.”

The one key “snag,” as Doole refers to it, is that the Dutch production has now caught up with the Australian original in terms adapting existing scripts. “So, we have to make sure it’s carefully in sync. Holland can’t get ahead of Australia, if you see what I mean!”

Web Therapy, another FremantleMedia scripted-format highlight, falls under the “reversion” category for Doole. “You’re taking the original premise and then probably putting another

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writer on board, taking that concept in a different direction, changing it, reversioning it for that particular market.”

Originally made with Lisa Kudrow and broadcast on Showtime, Web Therapy has now spawned a version for Movistar Plus in Spain with Eva Hache. “It relies on a top comedienne in the main role, so it’s personalized in each territory to what that comedienne is like and her profile,” Doole says.

Comedies in general tend to be harder to adapt. “Humor is so culturally sensitive,” says Söderlund at Eccho Rights.

Keshet has established a strong track record with scriptedcomedy formats, among them Traffic Light, formatted in the U.S., Russia and China; Your Family or Mine, produced in the U.S., Greece and Ukraine; and Loaded, ordered to series by Channel 4 and in the works for Televisa in Mexico.

“The issue with comedy is that when you get it wrong, you get it completely wrong—there’s less of a middle ground,” Shahar says.

Nevertheless, KABO’s Pouliot-Di Crescenzo states, “If you look at the best-selling formats in the history of television on the scripted side, you’ll see comedy in the top positions.”

Pouliot-Di Crescenzo says that KABO’s scripted-comedy format Our Crazy Family is working because of the company’s “PICK’n Mix” model. Broadcasters can select from more than 3,500 individual comedic scenes. “They’re like LEGO blocks; you can assemble them in any order. In Greece, the format is 40 minutes long; in France it’s closer to 26, 30 minutes. As the show continues in the schedule, the channel can start combining new scenes with rerun scenes, which can reduce the cost of the slot. Because every scene is only rerun maybe three or four times in the life of the show, it never feels like a rerun. Some scenes may seem familiar, but because they’re sandwiched in between brand-new scenes, the audience totally accepts it.”

KNOWLEDGE BANK KABO’s package for its clients includes all those scripts, plus a technical bible on how to make the series and detailed character descriptions. “We recommend casting scenes, so [the producers] can see if the actors they have can play the range of emotion required,” Pouliot-Di Crescenzo says. “We also provide the music and the graphics. We send a consultant and we

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After the success of Killer Women, MediaBiz is bringing more Latin American scripted projects to the global format market, including Cunning Girls. have them visit the set in Paris, so they can see it all happen and ask questions.”

Söderlund says the key is to “transfer all the knowledge behind the format over to the producer,” in order to ensure a successful and seamless adaptation.

Fox’s Saito also notes the importance of knowing the skill sets of the production company and broadcaster involved in the remake. “Some of the production companies are very well versed at what they’re doing. They have a very clear vision of how they want to produce a show. At that point, our job is to read the scripts and make sure they’re within the brand and let them do what they’re best at doing. Other times, they need a little bit of help, which can be something as small as trimming their budget costs or as big as setting up a writer’s room. If necessary, we can send consultants on site to help facilitate our client’s specific needs.”

Basel at Dori Media says that level of assistance varies from format to format, but the goal is to supply clients with what she calls the “total value package” that can include marketing support, apps and more.

A well-executed adaptation can spawn new elements that may be built back into the format package, FremantleMedia’s Doole’s observes. She uses as an example the Spanish version of Web Therapy. “One of the top celebrities they wanted on the show was sick and was having treatment. This actor couldn’t get to the set. The producers put the set in a mobile van and they drove it to the actor on location. Now we’re going to work that into the bible for other territories.”

ON TAPE Doole is also bullish about Web Therapy in Spain because that show can now be sold in its finished version across Latin America. Similarly, the German edition of Wentworth could roll out as a tape sale in Europe. “We’ve sold the Australian version to 141 territories,” Doole says. “Australian programming doesn’t count as EU content. The EU has really strict rules about how much content can come from non-EU countries.

Our German version does count as EU content, because it’s made in the EU by EU producers. If we sell it around Europe it’s going to be dubbed anyway, so it doesn’t matter what the original language is. We look at that whole wheel of value and we would not particularly like one of our formats to go to a producer in another territory where we don’t keep the tape distribution. We’re looking at that all the time to make sure

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that we are selling or managing the windowing on all the different finished versions around the world.”

Indeed, Doole is particularly excited about opportunities for scripted in Turkey because “Turkish drama is very exportable.”

EXPORT POTENTIAL Keshet’s Shahar has seen firsthand how a successful adaptation can boost the value of the original version of a show; such was the case with Prisoners of War, which inspired Homeland on Showtime and is being adapted in Korea and India, among other territories. “We went on to sell the Israeli version into 15 territories,” Shahar says.

In France, TF1 bought both the finished version and format of Mediaset’s RIS. “My intention is to sell both versions, but it depends on the territory and economic possibilities,” Caputi states.

“We see the future of this business as being able to not only create these productions for the local territories but then take the assets and sell them worldwide,” notes Fox’s Saito.

However, KABO’s Pouliot-Di Crescenzo cautions that the issue of tape-sales rights can sometimes complicate deals, particularly in the U.S. “We want to protect each brand in each country. Many countries are very protective of their scriptedformat adaptation. It could be a problem for them to have a foreign version of the same format coming into the territory. As U.S. broadcasters often request the right to sell their adaptation of a scripted format internationally, this can be a challenge.”

Eccho’s Söderlund believes that “you have to find a balance—is it better to sell the format or the ready-made? If you sell the format then maybe you can’t sell the ready-made, and vice versa. In each territory you have to assess what is the best way forward to create as much value as possible.”

So what’s in store for scripted formats? Distributors have a rosy outlook of the segment, with opportunities stretching from the U.S. to China and everywhere in between, especially given the diversity of scripted-format options available on the market.

“Some territories that could never make drama by themselves, because of the cost, now have the possibility to do it,” FremantleMedia’s Doole says. “That’s a really interesting model to us. Scripted formats don’t always have to be highend drama. You’ve got to think, What does the market need?”

And whatever the market does need, distributors are looking to heed the call.

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Red Arrow International’s Kiss Bang Love.

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Kristin Brzoznowski explores the latest trends in formats focused on dating, love and marriage. hanks to the sweeping popularity of matchmaking websites and dating apps, à la eHarmony and Tinder, the start of a meaningful longterm relationship (or brief romantic rendezvous) is now just a click or swipe away.

The widespread acceptance of this so-called digital dating has stirred up a renewed interest in TV programming focused on all aspects of courtship, from first meetings to marriages to fanning old flames.

The new series in this genre that are generating the most buzz globally differ greatly from the Love Connections and Dating Games of years past. Rather than featuring quizzes or competitions, many of the dating-focused formats selling well in the marketplace are observational in nature.

They provide a fly-on-the-wall view or even veer into the social-experiment space, rooted firmly in reality.

T

REAL ROMANCE “Capturing the authenticity of dating is the trend nowadays,” says Mike Beale, the executive VP of global development and formats at ITV Studios. “It’s not about three people sitting on a stool answering questions. It’s about trying to capture real life.”

Beale points to Love Island, which spotlights singles sequestered in an exotic locale, as a good example of where the genre has headed. “It’s in a manufactured environment, but you create a microcosm for young people and force dating on them to see what happens and capture what goes on.”

Beale says that more and more channels in a diverse range of territories want “authenticity and a softer hand of the producer” in the formats they’re commissioning, hence why social experiments have been in high demand.

“We want to create the environment but then we want to let the guinea pigs out to see what happens in it, rather than be steering it and constantly throwing in bombs during production.”

The success of the social-experiment format Married at First Sight is testament to the power of authenticity in relationship-focused shows. Red Arrow International has licensed the series for 24 local versions since launching it just two years ago. The format has been recommissioned everywhere it’s gone on air.

“Married at First Sight was definitely a trendsetter and a game changer,” says Harry Gamsu, the VP of format acquisitions and sales at Red Arrow International. “What’s interesting about it is that it stars real, relatable people, who don’t have any ulterior motives for going on the show. They genuinely want to find a partner to have an everlasting relationship with.”

He adds, “The pairing process is also extremely credible.

There are experts who have algorithms. The process is almost scientific, and there is a genuine goal to match two strangers in order to find love. People really buy into how credible and authentic it is.”

THE SCIENCE OF DATING Red Arrow International is also touting the dating/socialexperiment format Kiss Bang Love, which takes a similar scientific approach to matching up mates. The show “throws the process of dating into fifth gear,” says Gamsu.

“It’s about testing to see if our bodies are the best judge of who we should be dating rather than algorithms or apps or the advice of others. It gets down to the basic instinct that brings two strangers together.”

In today’s TV landscape of increasingly crowded EPGs and shrinking attention spans, it’s important for a show to have a title and clear messaging that’s going to grab a viewer’s attention straightaway. “That’s what’s great about both Married at First Sight and Kiss Bang Love,” says Gamsu. “You might hear about it and go, What is this? It sounds crazy! Then when you watch it, you get invested in the characters and story lines and realize that yes, it has a

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Global Agency has also been successful in selling relationship- and wedding-themed formats as daily strips.

Among its hits positioned for daily access prime time are Perfect Bride, a long-running format that continues to secure new options; Love Is Calling, which has been broadcast in Turkey for ten years, with close to 3,000 episodes aired; and I Wanna Marry You, which has been tripling its time slot’s average audience share on Kanal D.

STRIP TEASE

Televisa Internacional’s The Single Chef combines elements from the dating, competition and reality genres.

very noisy title and premise as a topline, but once you delve in you realize that there’s much more there.”

Electus International is home to the salaciously named Dating Naked format, which delivers exactly what its title promises: singletons meeting for the first time in the buff.

The format has been optioned in several markets. “We haven’t yet gotten it over the line to an original series, but I think that should change pretty soon,” says John Pollak, the president of global distribution and Electus Studios at Electus International. “Broadcasters are looking for loud, noisy and different types of programming in the dating space. With a show like Dating Naked, we have that and it has grabbed people’s attention. It’s going into its third season on VH1 in the U.S. and is now a proven success.”

Izzet Pinto, the company’s founder and CEO, believes these types of series are perfect to fill weekday schedules. “Broadcasters are always eager to find a successful daily show, then they don’t need to try to find different programs to fill their slots,” he says. “Once it’s successful, they have a show that can run five days a week.”

Perfect Bride and I Wanna Marry You also have special elimination-night episodes, which air in prime time.

Avi Armoza, the founder and CEO of Armoza Formats, says that he most commonly gets requests for “big, glossy, prime-time shows” in the dating space. He adds that these types of buzz-generating series are well suited to be the leading show in a channel’s summer or spring schedule.

“The idea is for viewers to watch these shows in prime time as appointment TV and talk about them the next day,” says Ellen Lovejoy, the VP of international content sales at A+E Networks, which has in its catalogue such marriagebased formats as Arranged and Seven Year Switch. “It’s hard to get people to have appointment television nowadays. These shows are also pulling in a younger demographic, because a lot of people in that age group are in an early relationship or are looking to be in a relationship.”

The ability to lure in that often-elusive younger audience is also cited by Carolyn Gilbey, a production consultant at all3media international, as one of the key selling

GETTING EXPERIMENTAL Another title sure to make some noise—and raise some eyebrows—is Zodiak Rights’s social-experiment format Undressed.

Inspired by a series of scientific tests, including one that measures whether you can make someone become intimately close to you or perhaps fall in love with you in less than one hour, the series was produced by Magnolia in Italy for NOVE. The network has the show scheduled in a later slot, just after 11 p.m., and runs two episodes back-to-back five days a week.

“We’re pitching it as a stripped, high-volume show that people can watch day after day,” says Andrew Sime, the VP of formats at Zodiak Rights, a Banijay Group company. “We’re in discussions with major broadcasters in key territories around the world. They’ve got their eye on the fact that this is proven in Italy and if they can get it right in their countries, then for a relatively affordable budget they can make lots of episodes and take over a piece of the schedule for weeks on end.”

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Zodiak Rights continues to generate sales on Back in Wedding Shape.

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The reality wedding format I Wanna Marry You, part of the Global Agency catalogue, runs as a daily strip with weekly primetime eliminations.

points for dating formats. “Shows like Young, Free & Single: Live prove that it is possible to get a good audience in this age range by engaging the viewer and enabling them to become part of the dating process,” she says.

The way this show, and many others in the dating/marriage space, accomplishes that is by tapping into new technologies. “Digital add-ons have definitely become more important for this genre,” says Gilbey. “The technical wizardry used in Young, Free & Single: Live is what allowed our audience to have an immediate connection with our cast. As the dates were being broadcast, the viewers were able to vote on whether singletons should ‘ditch’ or ‘date’ their partner again, the votes were instantaneously analyzed and appeared on the screen as a graphic.

Meanwhile, using iPads, the cast could monitor, while they were on air, what people were saying about them on social media.”

APP-ILY EVER AFTER Televisa Internacional is also embracing the opportunities digital extensions bring to the dating space with its format Date My Avatar. “From its conception, we thought that it was important [for the format] to reach a second screen and to have an app associated with it,” explains Ricardo Ehrsam, the company’s general director of entertainment formats. “We are creating our own digital dating platform, which is completely different from what we have seen

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until now. The aim of the platform is not only to date but also to have fun with dating. For the first time, we can behave like a Cyrano de Bergerac who mediates between two [potential] lovers. You can choose to be a candidate or an avatar, you can customize your avatar, you can design a communicative strategy to find or help others find love. Digitalization opens up infinite possibilities.”

ITV Studios’s Love Island also has a “digital backbone,” which drives the content as well as the conversation about the show offair. Beale cites the gossip-inducing, watercooler effect of these dating-centric formats as one of the key reasons for their popularity with broadcasters. Another is that they’re generally quite cost-effective or are at least scalable.

“You are able to easily control the budget and still come away with very strong storytelling,” agrees Armoza. He highlights Marry Me Now as a show that’s very cost-effective to produce. “Within the structure of the format, everything needs to happen in three days. Whatever you get in three days is what you have. You don’t need to add more shooting and you are not making a commitment for three months of production.

It’s controllable.”

A+E’s Lovejoy echoes the sentiment that dating formats are “incredibly costeffective productions, given the watercooler potential that they have.” She notes that the company shares a wealth of know-how with producers that can help to save time and money as well.

SHARING THE LOVE “We have useful production intel about what kind of couples [to choose], what characteristics they should have, what’s the balance of the issues that the couples are facing, what are their friends and families like, what type of psychologist [to bring in], what works and what doesn’t work,” says Lovejoy. “We have great consultancy and are always working to refine these shows so that they come back for second seasons. A lot of that comes from gaining experience in the casting process. That is information that we work very closely with our international partners to provide to them so that they can save time and money in preproduction.”

A great deal of effort goes into the casting when it comes to dating and marriage shows, in order to find compelling stories and characters that viewers will want to invest in. Red Arrow’s Gamsu says that the process becomes much easier after the initial season has aired and viewers see how scenarios played out for others. “When you put the casting call out for the second season you get so many more people vying [to be on the show] because they really bought into the idea and there’s a lot of people looking for a real connection,” he says.

For Zodiak Rights, the lessons learned about casting from the original Italian version of Undressed are proving valuable for international producers. “There have been 80 different

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Each episode of the docureality format Marry Me Now, an Armoza Formats title, requires just three days of shooting.

couples in the first season in Italy, so the Italian producers got a lot of experience very quickly about who’s right, what works, what doesn’t work, and we are looking to share that experience,” Sime says. “If the conversation or relationship heads off into an unexpected direction during an episode, since the Italian producers have that experience and know where to go with it, they’re sharing tips and tricks that can help to bring the best out of everyone involved.”

noise for a network at a relatively affordable cost is certainly a benefit for broadcasters. Add to that their ability to attract a young audience and it’s easy to see why the genre is back in vogue in a big way.

“It’s true that every year one genre picks up, and in the last six months, it has definitely been dating and marriage,” says Global Agency’s Pinto. “It’s a very important genre for us because Global Agency was founded with only a single format: Perfect Bride. One single wedding format has really helped us grow as a company and gain a lot of attention.”

“We’ve seen an explosion of interest in dating shows,” says Electus’s Pollak. “Every time we ask [a buyer] what they’re looking for, they’re looking for a prime-time dating show. They want their next The Bachelor.

It’s very hard to crack that formula, at least on the primetime level. Authenticity is really what matters most right now and you can dress it up however you want. At the end of the day, these shows are about people looking for love. It’s really hard to replicate that and do it differently so that it’s its own show and could become a major hit in the U.S. I know that everyone is trying and it is bound to happen sooner or later.”

MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN In terms of sales targets, Sime says that a dating show like Undressed is suitable for all types of broadcasters. “What’s great about this format is that it is affordable, so you can dial the budget up or down as much as you’d like and it makes a lot of noise,” he adds. “It’s the kind of property that if a broadcaster gets their hands on this, it will do their marketing for them. It will be a sign that they can hold up and say, look at us! That puts us in a strong position of being able to talk to any broadcaster about this, from big networks to cable channels to some of the smaller broadcasters.”

The ability for dating and marriage formats to make a lot of

Electus International’s Dating Naked is part of the new wave of social-experiment formats in the dating space.

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cept should be clear and simple; you should be able to sell it in a sentence.

TV FORMATS: Tell us about some of your best-selling formats.

PHILLIPS: The Great British Bake Off is fascinating to me. It was created for BBC Two by Anna Beattie [joint creative director] at Love Productions. It is a show about people baking in a tent, and over the years it has grown and grown in popularity. That is another important thing in a format: sometimes great formats are the ones that the audience feels they discover, that they own and get behind. The Great British Bake Off is a simple format with a lot of heart that was beautifully made by Love Productions. It launched in the U.K. when the economy was going through a tough time. Broadly speaking, when economies are buoyant, crueler formats come to the forefront. At the end of the last century and in the beginning of this one, there was Big Brother, The Weakest Link—tough formats. Then when times aren’t good, people want comforting formats, celebratory things, and that’s what Bake Off is. It celebrates the ordinary person doing extraordinary things and growing in talent.

Whenever you see the show in another country you know it’s Bake Off. All versions seem to have the tent and the bunting, but with the help of our producers at BBC Worldwide, [broadcasters] make it their own format. What we see throughout the world are shows that have the Bake Off ingredients, but they

KATE PHILLIPS BBC WORLDWIDE

By Anna Carugati

Kate Phillips has seen the format business from all angles: first as a producer, then as a development executive for BBC Entertainment and BBC Worldwide and then as a commissioner, when she was channel executive for BBC One and BBC Three. Today, as creative director of formats at BBC Worldwide, she oversees a catalogue of more than 160 titles, including the unscripted shows Top Gear, Strictly Come Dancing, The Great British Bake Off and You’re Back in the Room, and the scripted series Luther and The Office. Having a great idea is a start, but properly adapting a format to a broadcaster’s needs and budget is critically important, Phillips tells TV Formats.

TV FORMATS: What must a format have to be successfully replicated in more than one country?

PHILLIPS: All formats are different, but I think at their heart they have a really strong USP, a unique selling point. Without a doubt, every format you see on television will have been done before, so it has to have a new twist. And at its heart it has to have something very clever and real that doesn’t feel crowbarred in there but feels quite natural. When the format goes abroad, there is the packaging that surrounds it that we give to the different countries. They use it as their basis, but then they play around with beats. They bring to the forefront the elements that work for them and push back the ones that don’t. But good formats will always have that unique twist at the heart. The basic con-

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bring a few extra spices to the mix. For example, in Germany, they had [a bachelor party challenge] and made cakes with busts and beer kegs! In Turkey, all the judges and competitors dance at the beginning of the show. In Denmark, in one season, the person who lost had to jump in a lake. In Italy, they had an episode in which people had to bake a cake for their loved ones. Then their loved ones surprised them, and they all burst into tears, and it was very emotive! The show started a trend for feel-good formats in which members of the public do amazing things. You’re not laughing at them as in formats from previous times; you’re laughing with them and rooting for them.

We also have You’re Back in the Room from Tuesday’s Child, which is a slapstick variety show, a genre that has always been popular. But You’re Back in the Room has a twist: the contestants are hypnotized. Many people believe the hypnotism is fake, but the format that Karen Smith [managing director at Tuesday’s Child] and her team came up with proves the contestants aren’t faking it, because the triggers given to them by the hypnotist stop them from winning money. So the argument is that they wouldn’t be doing this unless they couldn’t help themselves, because they want to get the significant prize. The show launched last year in the U.K. and we’ve already seen versions in the Netherlands and France, and we just finished filming in Australia. FOX in America is in production with eight

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Special Forces: Ultimate Hell Week is a factual-entertainment format being showcased at MIPTV.

episodes. The show is coming from a very good place, and it’s growing just how we want it to grow. And audiences seem to be loving it.

actually the elements at the heart of Bake Off absolutely translated into the Brazilian market, and I thought they did a really good job with it.

TV FORMATS: Are scripted formats more difficult to get right, and if so, why?

PHILLIPS: It’s very hard [to get it right] with drama because it comes from a very complicated creative process. A drama often takes many years to get on screen. The writers often have many drafts of the script, and different directors come to the project.

When you are making [a drama] abroad there are a lot of stakeholders who are very worried about how it’s remade. But I also think you have to allow it to be adapted. Luther [about a police detective] is a very big drama in the U.K. It was successfully remade in Russia, although the [lead] character [is somewhat] different—he used to work with wolves and has a special empathy with animals that helps him do his job. They brought a very different take and did it beautifully. It totally worked for the Russian market.

But drama is always difficult to recreate, as is comedy because comic sensibilities are very different in different countries. I often get it wrong; often a show I think will sell does not, and then a show that maybe I personally don’t find funny is a rip-roaring hit worldwide.

TV FORMATS: Isn’t it fascinating to see what works and what doesn’t?

PHILLIPS: Yes, it is. At the moment we’re doing Dancing with the Stars in Colombia for RCN. When they told me they were going to do 55 episodes over 11 weeks, it blew me away, because I thought, How can you make that many? It’s such an exhausting show to make because there is so much to it. RCN is stripping it over 11 weeks, 55 episodes, and it’s going great guns! They have the first transgender competitor on it, which is brilliant.

We have a creative exchange in the U.K., [that allows] people who make formats to come together and swap ideas about how they [produced a certain format] and to discuss the different twists they brought to it. It’s one thing to sell a format, but it’s another to keep it on the air, so having that creative exchange of ideas about how to keep it popular and how to keep it at the top of its game is really important. I’m hoping we’ll be able to get the production team from the Colombian version [of Dancing with the Stars ] over because I would be fascinated to hear how they did it. I think all the other makers of the show will drop their jaws when I say, Yes, they just did 55 episodes over 11 weeks!

TV FORMATS: At MIPCOM you announced that you are relaunching The Office.

PHILLIPS: It’s been remade in nine territories already and has done very good business in places like Russia, the Czech Republic, Sweden and Israel. Now we’ve got options in Spain, Finland and Brazil as well. Part of the reason [we relaunched it] is that we have all the new scripts from NBC. The Office in the U.K. had a short run, but NBC did multiple seasons, so now we have [additional] scripts we can sell. And that’s often a problem with comedy in the U.K., they do short runs and people want multiple scripts. I really think that The Office will appeal to the Latin American market. They have quite a dry, witty sense of humor and I think it would really work. It’s interesting, when we did Bake Off in Brazil last year, I couldn’t picture it working in Brazil because it’s so different from the English countryside. But

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TV FORMATS: There is a lot of drama on the air right now. Is that negatively impacting unscripted? Or are buyers looking for unscripted because there is so much drama?

PHILLIPS: There is a lot of drama out there at the moment, and I do feel there will come a time when there is too much. Personally, as a viewer, I can’t keep up with it all. My Sky+ box is in overdrive! There is only so much time. [Starting a new show is] almost like having a new boyfriend—can I commit to you? Can I commit to this series? Because they are asking a lot of you.

Often it’s a 22-episode series, a long run. The thing about drama is that it’s expensive. And every time there is a great new Netflix series, or an amazing new War & Peace, which BBC Worldwide is currently distributing, the budgets go up and up,

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BBC Worldwide’s You’re Back in the Room has notched up versions in France and Australia, among other markets.

and the bar goes up and up. These series are great to have, but they are unaffordable for so many [broadcasters]. So there will always be a place for unscripted because it is relatively costeffective television. Another sign of a good format is that it can be adapted and made cheaper in another territory. For example, something like Bake Off has quite a high budget in the U.K., but in Turkey it’s being stripped for over 200 episodes and it’s done as a daytime show. There are broadcasters who are crying out for what I call “sweet-spot” formats—low cost, high volume. That’s what broadcasters really need to fill their schedules.

If it’s a good format and the beats are there and the USP is at its heart, a cheaper version does not mean a lesser version. It actually means that the program makers have had to be more clever to make it work within that budget. I’m always in awe of people who can do that.

TV FORMATS: Given your background as a programming executive, are you able to relate to the different needs of your broadcast clients because you’ve been in their shoes?

PHILLIPS: Absolutely! I’ve been in television for 20 years now. I was a program maker for years, I’ve run my own formats company and I’ve been at channels helping commission shows—I worked at BBC One and BBC Three. I’ve seen the business from all sides, so I absolutely know that when most people pitch a format to a channel, [the controller is thinking] We haven’t got the slots for this, and actually we’re wary of taking on a new show. So going into that pitch, you have to preempt all of those hurdles and think like the controller. What are the problems on this channel? What are the problems that need solving and how can we help solve them? A format gives a channel controller a certain amount of reassurance [because] it has worked in another market. But just because it’s worked in one market does not mean it will work in another, and that’s why you’ve got to work at adapting it. You can’t just go in very arrogantly and say, This is our format, do you want it? You have to think about that country, about the channel’s needs, [the other content] on that channel and how the format can work. That is so important. It amazes me that some people don’t do that when they come into meetings.

Soon I think we’ll see a huge rise in co-development deals in the format industry. Long gone is, Here’s the format, make it. We

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have to work hard to co-develop it for the different territories and make sure that it really works for them, particularly in the Asian market. I went to China last year, and it just blew my mind how differently they make shows. We can’t just make a format [as it is], a lot of work has to go into adapting it for that market.

TV FORMATS: What new shows will you have for MIPTV? PHILLIPS: We’re taking a lot of great formats to MIPTV this year, including The Getaway Car, a big new BBC in-house production for BBC One on Saturday night, which is the big prime-time slot in the U.K. The Getaway Car came out of Top Gear, actually. It features couples testing their relationships behind the steering wheel of a car and in ridiculous assault courses. Then they have to race each other while answering general-knowledge questions. And the final couple gets to race The Stig from Top Gear in the final round.

In another country it wouldn’t have to be The Stig, it could just be a masked man or a great rider. The Getaway Car is shot in South Africa; it looks beautiful. It’s a lot of fun. Kids love it, parents love it, grandparents love it. It recently launched on BBC One and is performing well, and we’re really hopeful it’s going to do good business. We’d like to build a hub in South Africa so other countries can come and make their own versions, because The Getaway Car is expensive. There have been hubs for shows like I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! Hubs are really the way to go because they make shows affordable that would otherwise be unaffordable for broadcasters.

The other show we have is Special Forces: Ultimate Hell Week, which is a big factual-entertainment series in which members of the public go through SAS-style (elite Special Air Service) training each week, and at the end one of them wins. We did it on BBC Two last year; it was made in-house at the BBC. It looked fantastic, did really well, and has been recommissioned. It’s a good example of what I call an “endurance” format. And endurance formats are very popular at the moment. They are authentic and they show people pushing themselves as far as they can go and actually surprising themselves. But these shows don’t feel format-ty.

They’re almost shot in a documentary style—that’s another trend we are seeing at the moment.

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complicated to get and very complicated to hold on to, and those are the slots in television that pay the most—slots for game shows and daily talk shows. These are the ones that change businesses. So we have a lot to learn from that side.

On the Zodiak side, creativity is certainly at the heart of what we do and something we’ve invested in heavily in the past two years. Banijay is certainly embracing that part of our culture. I would lastly say that Zodiak, going back to the old RDF years, has a very strong, renowned and respected distribution arm. There is no doubt about it; outside the new footprint we have a good distribution arm to sell our shows.

GRANT ROSS BANIJAY GROUP

By Anna Carugati

Since his appointment in 2014 as Zodiak Media’s executive VP of global creative development and format acquisition, Grant Ross has been working with Zodiak’s production companies looking for ideas that can satisfy audiences in several countries. Prior to joining Zodiak, he was global head of acquisitions at the Endemol Group and he has considerable experience spotting shows that have the potential to travel. At the end of February, Banijay Group and Zodiak announced they were combining their production units and catalogues.

Ross talks to TV Formats about the advantages of the merger for both companies and the new formats being showcased by Zodiak Rights, Banijay Group’s distribution arm.

TV FORMATS: What are the benefits of the merger with Banijay?

ROSS: The obvious one is the larger footprint [which will now include] 17 territories. That gives us quite a force while maintaining creative freedom. The merger is also incredibly interesting because it’s bringing two different cultures together.

Both of them have their own advantages. Banijay has a very strong entrepreneurial culture. They do something that we have been looking to do for a while at Zodiak but has always been our weak point and that is target slots. At Banijay they are very good at achieving results in slots that are very

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TV FORMATS: Would you give examples of shows that started in one territory and then became global formats?

ROSS: We have many examples going back to the earlier days— shows like Wife Swap, which was made in 25 territories, Secret Millionaire and Fort Boyard. Banijay also has some big brands like Temptation Island, Beat Your Host and Popstars.

Recently we’ve been coming up with some very interesting concepts that have been traveling beautifully, shows like The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds, Wild Things, and in the last few months, a show called Undressed from Magnolia in Italy. All three of them are stellar concepts. They are our queen bees of the last 12 months. The first two are shows which broadcast in 2015. Secret Life has reached six territories with many more to come. Wild Things also broadcast in 2015 and, although it’s an expensive format, it has reached seven territories with further deals close to signature. Undressed only broadcast in January, in Italy, to incredible figures and has been commissioned in three other territories.

TV FORMATS: When you hear an idea for a show, are there certain elements that jump out and make you think it will work?

ROSS: The originality of the idea. If it’s a strong idea and it’s original and it’s taking us into a space that nobody’s gone before, then immediately the hairs come up on my arm. Failing this, [I’d be interested in] a completely different way of tackling something we already know. But there is nothing worse than generic, derivative concepts. Our audiences will reject them.

Originality is the first element I look out for.

TV FORMATS: What are the key elements to adapting a format?

ROSS: You need to tick several key boxes in order to have a successfully adapted show. First, you need to have an idea that is successful in its original territory. It’s hard to export failures, although it has been done. The second box that has to be ticked is the proper distribution of the information about the format, which is vital in the local selling process. For us it’s about communication and getting the key talent, who created and executed the original concept, in the same room as all our entrepreneurs who run the different [Banijay Group] offices.

The entrepreneurs need to understand the process of how the format was created, why it was created that way, and the key elements that bring it success. [Using their knowledge of their local markets] they can in turn tweak the selling pitch to suit their territories. The next box is that the talented entrepreneurs in our territories, who understand the format and how to sell it, must also know their broadcast clients, their needs and, above all, have the confidence of the broadcasters to execute the format correctly. Once they pitch the format, they know the broadcasters will say, Yes, these people are capable of delivering this format the way they say they will. The next box,

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which is extremely important, is obviously the execution of the show. That can only happen correctly if the process is understood and, above all, the producers are talented people and work very closely with our consulting team. We put a lot of effort into our consultancy. Our key executives play a major role in this process. That is the last box that needs to be ticked, but all four boxes are extremely important to the process. If you are not able to tick one of those boxes, you immediately have an Achilles’ heel.

TV FORMATS: Are there trends right now in the formats market?

ROSS: Yes, there are trends, no doubt about it, but as arrogant as this may seem—and believe me I don’t want to appear arrogant—we try to steer our creatives away from those trends. It’s one thing to follow a trend, but it’s even more exciting to try to set the next one—that’s the big game. If you follow a trend, you will generally come up with generic ideas and will generally finish second best.

Of course, we also create concepts that are in similar spaces to existing ones, especially if requested by our broadcast clients, but if you can motivate your creative to fish elsewhere, you’ll have a much bigger chance of catching that big one. At the end of the day, that has to be what it’s all about—to aim to get a global hit. You are never going to get that global hit by following a trend.

Well, never say never, as The Voice was the exception to that rule, but let’s say very, very unlikely….

TV FORMATS: Different broadcasters have different budgets.

Does a format have to be elastic enough so that the broadcaster with a bigger budget can put more bells and whistles

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into it, and another broadcaster with a smaller budget can still use it in a more pared-down version?

ROSS: Creativity must always be put first. If you get that right, you’ll find solutions on the budget side. If you start thinking about the budgets you are probably going to, somewhere or other, handicap your creativity. We’re lucky that much of our creativity comes from the Nordic region; even though the shows are non-English, their budgets correspond to those in most of the world. In other words, all the shows from that region travel without having financial gymnastics issues. We also get a lot of creativity coming out of the U.K. office, and these can be bigbudget shows. At the end of the day, if it’s a great concept, broadcasters will find the budgets. Given that 80 percent of creativity comes from the U.K. and the U.S., it’s fair to say their big budgets haven’t hindered their formats from traveling. Secret Life of 4 Year Olds is such a ratings success—it’s the highest-rated factual format in the past five years for Channel 4—the cost isn’t stopping its rollout.

When it comes to a show like Wild Things, we’ve created a production hub in Argentina. The hub is enabling many of our territories to produce cost-effectively; albeit Russia, Belgium and China have all managed local productions.

TV FORMATS: What new titles will you have for MIPTV? ROSS: We will continue to push The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds, Wild Things and of course Undressed, which we believe will be a big one for us. We are adding a Dutch show called Killer Roads, which I think will be well received by the market, and a Danish show called Wimps in the Wilderness, which is an extraordinary take on men changing their lives.

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The Secret Life of 4 Year Olds has been commissioned in a number of territories since its launch on Channel 4.

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FOOTBALL NIGHTMARES

Retired footballer Gianluca Vialli talks about his new reality show, co-developed with FremantleMedia Italia, and its potential for international adaptations.

By Sara Alessi

ften referred to as “The Beautiful Game,” football doesn’t just capture audiences at the professional level. Its passionate fan base also engages with the sport at a local level around the globe. “Football is popular all over the world, and it transcends international and cultural boundaries,” says legendary footballer Gianluca Vialli, who played professionally in Italy for Cremonese, Sampdoria and Juventus, and in the U.K. for Chelsea before becoming a TV analyst for Sky Italia.

The new reality format Football Nightmares, co-developed

by FremantleMedia Italia in conjunction with Vialli, leverages the widespread passion for the game. It shines a light on struggling grassroots clubs with losing records, providing them with the guidance they need to succeed and giving their fans a reason to cheer again. Vialli serves as executive producer for the Italian original, Squadre da incubo, which airs on on Sky Italia’s TV8. He also stars in the series along with his friend and retired football player Lorenzo Amoruso.

“Football Nightmares is one way for me to feel as if I’m giving back and doing something to make the game even more beautiful,” says Vialli. “I’m very grateful to football. Therefore, every time there’s an opportunity to do something that can improve the game, it’s a must for me.”

He adds, “This format has elements of comedy and drama, and it’s about people who are real. The teams represent everybody who loves and plays football, and everyone will relate to them, so it will appeal to a very wide audience. Plus, the underdog story is always appealing.”

The idea for the show, which sees two former professional players set out on a mission to transform grassroots football clubs that are on dire losing streaks, arose during a conversation Vialli had with television writers over dinner. He expressed his desire to serve as a “football consultant” of sorts, to swoop in and help a struggling team. “One day, the writers called me and said they had come up with an idea for a TV format based on that concept,” Vialli says.

O

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The hosts have seven days to tackle the club’s issues, which range from disorganization at the management level to conflict among players to poor training facilities. At the end of the week, the team plays a match to put their newfound skills to the test.

Vialli emphasizes that a key aspect of the show is its authenticity. “We have tackled all the problems as if the cameras were not there,” he explains. “We don’t serve the cameras; they are just there to film what goes on, and the director and the camera crews know that, and they’ve got the sensitivity to understand how to be guests without interfering, [because] when the story is true, it’s even more powerful.”

“FremantleMedia was the obvious choice [as a production partner], because in Italy they do formats such as The X Factor, Italy’s Got Talent and [many of] the most successful TV shows in the country,” Vialli says. Bringing FremantleMedia on board was also key due to the company’s global reach, as Vialli believes the concept of Football Nightmares is one that can be easily replicated worldwide.

“Football Nightmares is entertaining, and every episode can be different, because there are a number of situations to handle with each team, as well as different personalities and lack of confidence,” Vialli says. For that reason, he doesn’t foresee having to make many tweaks as the format is adapted in other territories.

One aspect of the show that could be tailored to each adaptation, helping to drive viewership, is the selection process for the two ex-footballers. Vialli notes, “The hosts can be chosen cleverly, the way the judges of The X Factor or Got Talent are. They can be iconic [stars who reflect] the personality of the different countries” in which the show is adapted.

In the future, Vialli hopes to see Football Nightmares travel across the globe, as the concept is “very easily translatable and it can appeal to audiences” the world over. “It’s a story of transformation” that can be told in any country where football is played.

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