Prime Video has announced a couple of interesting new formats, the first launching in August this year and the second in 2025. Here's what they are.
BUSINESS SHOWS: THE POWER OF DREAMS
Business shows - formats like Dragons Den/Shark Tank, to be clear - when done well are almost always successful because, as a friend says, they are not about business, they are about dreams. For a few years now, this trend has been gaining steam thanks to the start-up phenomenon (see The Big Sparks, FE 24 Nov 2023 - Mission Start Ab, FE 15 Dec 2023, among others), although the problem is that, let's face it, these formats are all a little bit the same.
Now Prime Video has introduced a generational twist with 60 Day Hustle (produced by new prodco Sonic Gods Studios), which premieres on 8 August and features a cast of Millennials (plus some Gen Z). The six-episode series follows the 12 young entrepreneurs as they take part in a super-charged accelerator programme designed to condense two years' worth of business development into two months.
With the help of a number of business mentors, the contestants are put through their paces in a series of business challenges to win a $100,000 prize that could help turn their dreams into reality.
Another great advantage of this trend is that brands can be easily integrated into the storytelling without being forced; in this case: Vimeo, Chime, Square, Artlist, Pilot Pen, Teachable and others.
One last curiosity. In the Content London Global Entertainment Formats Pitch, 2023 won a format called The Ultimate Hustle from Irish production company Animo TV. The mechanics are slightly different, but the concept and title are similar. I wonder if they were involved in any way...
A RED CARPET FULL OF SURPRISES
The second is the Italian version of Japan's Red Carpet Survival, one of the funniest and most original comedy action games of recent years, produced by Nippon Tv, which describes it as an "thrilling game show".
The contestants act as bodyguards, escorting a celebrity to safety. In each episode, three teams of bodyguards have to carry out the orders of a "boss", with the aim of keeping a series of celebrities on the red carpet as they make their way to their final destination (campus, airport, hotel...). But the bodyguards have to face a series of crazy traps that are secretly set on their way: explosions, robot attacks, real crocodiles and others. If the celebrity steps even slightly off the red carpet, a bodyguard is eliminated. The game ends when all the bodyguards have been eliminated or the target has been successfully reached.
As far as I know, the Italian version is the first international adaptation of this game, which is strange because Red Carpet has all the elements of a successful format (perhaps softening the more extreme challenges): it is fun, original, with really exciting trials and challenges. The Italian version is called Red Carper - Vip al Tappeto and is produced by Blu Yazmine. The 'boss'/presenter is Alessia Marcuzzi, with 'off-screen' comic voice-overs by the duo (formerly trio) of Gialappa's Band, who add another comic touch to the format.
SPANISH GAMES
Spain is increasingly confirming itself as this summer's "country of formats". In addition to the formats described in previous issues (see for example FE 28 Jun) and the Spanish version of The Floor below in the "News in a nutshell" section, here are two new games to add to this long list.
The first is Todos Por Ti - adapted from the Dutch Van Je Familie Moet Je Het Hebbet (distributed internationally under the title Surprize Fund), a format developed by Talpa Studios in collaboration with Youngest Media and distributed by Talpa Studios (pic) - produced by Mediaset España in collaboration with Topanga Crea, which combines game with emotion.
An unsuspecting main contestant is invited into the studio under false pretences. To their surprise, they're greeted by 15 of her closest family members and best friends. They're in a game show, and there's a good chance they'll end the day with a lot of money...
The contestant will also discover that these people have come to help her/him win and to tell the world why they think she/he really deserves to take home the prize, a pot that they themselves have accumulated by answering separately to the twelve questions that the protagonist will then have to answer.
The second is Lo Sabe, No Lo Sabe - an adaptation of the Israeli Smart Face, created by Oded Menashe of Mile-Mala Formats and distributed internationally by Dori Media - produced by Mandarina for Mediaset's Cuatro channel.
The game, which already aired on Cuatro between 2012 and 2013, is a quiz show in which contestants are asked questions but are not allowed to answer them: they have to find someone on the street to answer their questions for them. If the person they choose answers correctly, the contestant wins money and moves on to the next question. If the person is wrong, the contestant is out of the game.
NEWS IN A NUTSHELL
After 17 years of success, the Spanish entertainment show El Hormiguero is coming to Italy in September on Mediaset's Italia 1 with the local title Il Formicaio
The new edition of La Casa de los Famosos México premiered last Sunday 21 July on Canal 5, Las Estrellas and ViX
Today, Friday 26th July the Dutch game show The Floor, will premiere on the private free-to-air channel Antena 3 Internacional, produced by Atresmedia in collaboration with Mediacrest
Australia's ABC will launch a new factual series The Assembly, a local version of the French hit The A Talks, on 20 August on ABC TV and the pubcaster's ABC iview platform.
France 3 has commissioned a local adaptation of Banijay Belgium's “football factual” Men of Honour, to be produced by Endemol France's Puzzle Media,
entitled Les Héros du Gazon
UKTV has commissioned Pete Wicks: For Dogs’ Sake for free-to-air channel U&W, recently rebranded free streaming service U. Produced by BBC Studios Entertainment, this docu-series will follow TV star and animal welfare advocate Pete Wicks as he works with Dogs Trust to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome vulnerable dogs