"THE LAST DANCE": this was the tribute left by a major content distributor at the Majestic Hotel. And this was certainly the prevailing feeling of all the participants. FRIDAY'S ESPRESSO asked two experts for their impressions of the event in general and the MipFormat pitch in particular.
A FORMAT-STUDDED FAREWELL TO MIPTV IN CANNES
Sarah Coursey, SVP International Content, Happy Accidents, reports:
“The global formats community descended on the French Riviera this week for the 61st and final Cannes edition of MipFormats and MipTV. Dubbed by some as the ‘MipTV Funeral’ – but more optimistically by most as ‘The Last Dance’ (I enjoyed the very sweet and simple Global Agency poster outside The Majestic) – nostalgia was at an all-time high.
Market enthusiasm was nevertheless healthy and robust, particularly with regard to South Korea’s evergreen creativity, with MBC’s Bloody Game and Something Special’s Still Alive leading the charge. British and Dutch format producers also created a happy buzz, with BBC One’s adaptation of RTL Netherland’s The Traitors taking the lead. If blue-sky formats optimism was measured by actual participation, you would see a different story, as MipTV’s farewell saw a year-on drop of more than 40% in attendance. But having been on the ground in Cannes for the last week, the business is as creative and vibrant as ever, with new entries in competition reality, studio game, renewed demand for dating and dating-adjacent, and reboots of heritage IP.
Dating shows are at the top of buyer’s lists, but with a twist: now the demand is increasing for dating adjacent, such as “break-up and make-up” relationship reality, and comedy-dating. The new US-based studio Happy Accidents has just acquired LaRue Entertainment’s show True Dating Stories, a hilarious take on real-life dating mishaps and misadventures, retold with reenactments by comedians. Airing on CBC’s streaming platform GEM in Canada, as well as Fuse TV in the US, it is now in its third season. On this, Tyler Massey, SVP Global Content at the studio, said, “Among the trends I’ve been noticing are fun and lighthearted formats with a comedy twist. In that vein, True Dating Stories ticks the boxes. It’s like Drunk History for dating, with the most shocking and ridiculous true-life stories, all brought to life on screen by comedians. It’s a unique mash-up of dating and comedy, highlighting the funniest bits of finding (or not finding) love.”
Dutch producers Concept Street have also cross pollinated dating, this time with social experiment, with their format Sex And the Suburbs. The show got THE WIT’s stamp of approval, and was included in MipTV’s Fresh TV Formats screening. Guilty-pleasure dating reality continues to perform, and the format offers a new arena - suburbia instead of an island. Participants are coupled up and live in a house together, taking on husband and wife challenges, to test compatibility.
Maria Chiara Duranti, founder of FormatBiz and formats expert, quipped: “One of the trends I noticed is the continuing impact of South Korea. I was intrigued by the format presented by CJ ENM, Apartment 404 and along with Still Alive, the mystery reality trend is also exemplified in TV Asahi’s refreshing of the old format Horror House. It has some elements of The Traitors, which is no surprise. K7 Media’s latest tracking report has shown that The Traitors is influencing the international formats market, with adaptations kicking off in nine countries.”
Apartment 404 is the first Korean mystery variety show based on real property-based investigative cases. The format features six residents delving into unprecedented incidents and unexplained encounters that have actually occurred in apartments across South Korea. In each episode, as time flows differently, the residents confront events from various eras and must uncover the home’s secrets. Viewers outside of South Korea can now watch the format on Prime Video, as of February this year.
The Traitors got massive buzz, and it is also unique in its scheduling, following airing thrice a week on the linear channel on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, feeding into catch-up drops on the iPlayer. This programming strategy is a half-nod to Big Brother, Celebrity Big Brother and Love Island All Stars, the ITV juggernauts that air six times per week, and has proven successful for the channel group. Some acquisitions insiders at MIPTV even lamented they are getting too many ‘Traitors-like pitches’, a nod to the format’s popularity. Produced by Studio Lambert for BBC One, the format first launched on RTL 4 Netherlands, with the Dutch title De Verraders. Mark Twain famously said “there is no such thing as original ideas” and I think our industry exemplifies a line you have to walk between inspiration and replication – after the format’s unshakeable success, it’s understandable formats creators are feeling influenced by it.
Perhaps the most mean-streaked competition reality show in the marketplace is Bloody Game, in which 10 players play a survival game while isolated in a mansion. Upon arrival, the contestants must eliminate one player, who must immediately pack their bags and go home. TV2 Norway was the first channel to adapt the South Korean format, with Mastiff Norway producing. It has been called a cross between The Traitors and Celebrity Big Brother.
Nathalie Wogue, SVP Global Formats at Fox Entertainment Global, who also oversaw the MIPFormats program for several years, said, “Big performance shows, studio games that are simple, visual and fun, and reality series with a comedic touch are what most networks are looking for. Beat My Mini Me is the most interesting one in the first category as it also has a unique twist, and feels authentic and feel-good. The Floor leads the second category (studio game), as it’s visual and has a strong arced narrative. The Traitors owns the third (reality series), with its slightly humorist touch.”
Guilherme Barros, Senior Acquisitions Executive at Globo, noted, “It was a great market, even though it’s tough that it will be the last one. I saw a couple interesting formats, and one of my favourites is The A Talks from Can’t Stop Media, an autism-themed talk show. It is a one-of-a-kind emotional and inclusive format, originally from France and already adapted in many countries.” Indeed, BBC One is the latest to get on board in the celebration of neurodiversity, with its version of The Assembly launched last Friday from Michelle Singer and Stu Richard’s Rockerdale Studios.
Heritage IP continues to break through, from the part reboot, part mashup that is the genius format Deal Or No Deal Island, in which the classic game show is relocated to reality TV’s most popular landmass, swapping a studio set for an island. The show’s freshman season premiered on NBC in the US in February of this year.
All in all, this heartfelt adieu to April’s MipFormats and MipTV has been inspiring for the breadth and depth of creativity being created and adapted around the world, with the usual suspects in South Korea, Japan, France, UK and the Netherlands, as well as the US. Format veterans may be poignantly saying goodbye to Cannes in the springtime, but the industry continues to march along at a healthy pace, and most of us will be toasting soon enough at Mipcom in October, with new formats and adaptations to share, and of course a healthy dose of anticipation for MIPLondon in its place in 2025.
AND THE 2024 MIPFORMAT PITCH WINNER IS....
Fabrizio Cacciamani, TV Format Specialist & Content Consultant reports:
"There is no MIPFORMAT without MIPFORMAT Pitch, the unmissable TV market event in Cannes. It may not be the best way to pitch your original TV idea, but it is certainly the perfect opportunity to measure yourself against the art of pitching. It is one thing to have an idea, it is another to be able to sell it and convince a jury of insiders.
It is therefore always interesting to watch the five finalists at work, playing their cards to grab attention with a tight, rhythmic presentation and answering the judges' objections point by point. This year it was the turn of these 5 projects:
TWENTY-FIVE
Scientific studies have shown that people reach their peak vitality around the age of 25. To test whether this is true, the Norwegians at LGH Entertainment proposed a game show in which 25 people of different ages would face tests of 'strength', 'endurance', 'balance', 'mobility' and 'problem solving', and their performance would be measured and compared with that of a sample of 25-year-olds. What are the results?
A.I. OF THE BEHOLDER
The Canadian David Tobiasz has promoted a social experiment in which people facing a problem or dilemma agree to undergo a programme of change, guided and monitored by the now infallible Artificial Intelligence. Will A.I. be more successful than so many coaching gurus?
STUPID HOUSE
The English company Chulapo Pictures is the promoter of a game show in which a group of celebrities, after being individually and secretly subjected to an intelligence test to measure their IQ, are then brought together in another 'TV house'. Here they are subjected to various tests in which they must hide their true intellectual talents, because the cruel mechanism of the game awards each of them a cash prize, the higher their IQ, and their elimination enriches the final jackpot, which is donated to charity.
UNKNOWN CHAMPIONS
German Phillip Sindermann has devised a game show in which celebrities choose from a series of unknowns on a conveyor belt who they think is the best person to tackle a given practical test. Will they be able to make the ideal and most effective choice without being influenced by prejudices and stereotypical appearances?
VILLA INCOGNITO
The Dutch company Tuvalu Media has unveiled a project in which nine celebrities enter a villa, hide their identities with 'cinematic' make-up, and while spending six hours with the other celebrity guests in a variety of fun activities, they must try to keep their identities a secret on pain of elimination.
One of the attractions of the MIPFORMAT Pitch for the many people in attendance is the anticipation of the jury's choice of winner, who were not shy in their criticism, repeatedly pointing out that all the projects were in some way inspired by established and consolidated TV programmes and styles.
Who would you have preferred? The name of the winner will only be revealed at the end of this newsletter".
KOREAN SINGLES
I Am Single - broadcast by SBS Plus, ENA and produced/distributed by Something Special - was recently voted the winner of the "2024 Korea brand awards" for best dating reality. It is a format that is quite different from the content of the same genre, mainly because of its hyper-realistic style.
12 singles who are desperate to get married come to 'Single's Land' for six days to find 'the one' in their lives. The participants can't give their real names and have to live under nicknames during the 6 days. They encounter different types of dating, such as selection dating, random dating and super dating, to get to know each other better.
At the final selection, they reveal their real names to the person who has won their hearts, and those who choose each other become the final couple.
More than just a game, it is a real psychological experiment that seems to work in real life: to date, eight couples who met on the show have gone on to get married.
NEWS IN A NUTSHELL
Japan's Fuji TV and Phil Gurin's Los Angeles-based TGC Global Entertainment (TGC GE) have partnered to co-develop The Swap Project, a comedy social experiment format.
Spanish streaming platform Mitele Plus, owned by Mediaset España, will launch Los Vecinos De la Casa De Al Lado (‘The Neighbours Next Door’), by Banijay Iberia's Cuarzo Producciones. The show will have a daily spin-off hosted by Amaia Zai, created and developed using AI
Spanish public broadcaster RTVE gives the green light to music competition That's My Jam, originally a segment on NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and renews ITV's game show The Chase
Spain's Antena 3 Internacional announces the return of the musical format Tu Cara Me Suena ('Your face is familiar') on Friday 12th April, produced by Atresmedia in association with Gestmusic (Banijay Iberia).
Shine Portugal will produce 10 episodes of the singing competition Starstruck, originally created by Remarkable Entertainment and broadcast for two seasons on ITV and ITVX, for public broadcaster RTP.
After a hiatus of more than 6 years, Secret Story, the French adaptation of Endemol's Big Brother, produced by Endemol France, makes its comeback on Tuesday 23rd April on public broadcast TF1
Global Agency has acquired the international rights to the Japanese reality show REA(L)OVE which was originally developed and produced by FANY Studio.
The competition series Destination X, already a hit in Belgium, has been given the green light for production by NBCUniversal. BBC will also get the UK version of the show.
Sophie Ferron, President of GRB Media Ranch, has announced the sale of Blind Dating to ABY Media in Africa.
Banijay has acquired the format rights for France and the Netherlands to Alumni Lovers, MBC's high school reunion dating show that launched in South Korea last December
Catalan public broadcaster 3Cat has ordered an adaptation of French-Canadian music competition format Zenith, while production companies in the UK and Australia have also optioned the rights in their respective markets.
MIPFORMAT PITCH WINNER : STUPID HOUSE by Chulapo Pictures, created by Sergio Lopez!