FRIDAY'S ESPRESO - 9th June
The most followed newsletter about international formats
1. GERMAN QUEER DOCU FORMAT
On Monday 5th of June, as the start of the Pride Month, RTL+, the streaming platform of the German broadcaster RTL, launched Family of Choice, a brand-new queer docu format. During the 7 episodes, a number of queer persons and “People of Color” face each other in order to make themselves a name in the Ballroom Community (born in the 60es as a resistance movement in the Afro-American, Latinx, queer and trans scene in New York).
The performers are divided into different “Houses”, each of which is structured like a family and led by a person who serves as a mentor and example to all family members. This new series is centered on Georgina, foundress of the first Ballroom House in Germany, who has reached international fame as “Legendary Mother”, and gives an exclusive insight into her “Family of Choice”.
During the episodes, the performers meet regularly with their “Family of Choice” for training and exchange, take part in contests (“Balls”) and treat issues such as self-discovery, love, identity and acceptance.
Their 10th anniversary will be celebrated with a great ball at the “Volksbühne” of Berlin, in which the performers will face high-caliber competition in front of an international jury.
2. KOREAN SINGING BOYFRIENDS
On Tuesday 6th of June, the Thai broadcaster Workpoint TV launched the first local version of My Boyfriend Is Better, a music entertainment format from Korean CJ ENM and Masked Singer creator Won-woo Park. The format began airing on CJ-owned music channel Mnet (practically the showcase of the Korean prodco) last March.
In this brand-new format, five girls who want to show off their boyfriends’ singing skills make some bets in 3 different stages to see who is the best singer. All couples are given money to bet on each boyfriends’ performance while a group of female panelists vote on a dropout. Will the girls take the risk betting all their money only on their own boyfriend, or will they adopt a safer strategy dividing the money into different boyfriends/singers?
The format is fun and entertaining and the idea to join love/emotion with bet/game seems to work. But the mechanism of the dropout is too similar to The Money Drop, both regarding visual aspect and strategy dilemma (putting all their eggs in one basket or trying to minimize the risk?).
3. THE MARKET WITH A VIEW
Yesterday, Thursday 8th of June, ended the 10th edition of the NEM Dubrovnick. A report from Maria Chiara Duranti, founder and chief editor of Formatbiz:
Nem Dubrovnik 2023 (5-8 June 2023) is one of the most anticipated events of the year as it takes place in the beautiful setting of the Palace Hotel right in front of the seafront, which is which it’s also called “The Market with a view”. In particular, this year New Europe Market (NEM) was celebrating its 10 anniversary.
During the panel 10 years of NEM sponsored by Mediavision, Sanja Božić-Ljubičić, CEO of Pickbox, Mediatranslations, Mediavision and creator of the NEM, explained how this market is totally different from other international events: “NEM takes place in a friendlier and more relaxed atmosphere in which professionals (not only from the CEE world) can meet, do business, and attend training conferences about the chance and transformation of the TV landscape. This 10th edition offered 12 keynote speakers with 60 panels”.
As it’s too difficult to write about all the great conferences and presentations, I would love to highlight some themes: like the interesting presentation titled FAST Revenues by Maria Rua Aguete (Omdia) about data predictions for FAST business opportunities not only in the CEE regions, but also for Western Europe: “The Central and Eastern European (CEE) market is on track to reach $42m in free ad-supported streaming tv (FAST) revenues by 2028 according to new research from Omdia. CEE joins a buoyant market currently dominated by the US, with rapid expansion from the UK, Canada, and Australia expected over the next four years - said Rua Aguete – and she also added that that linear TV is not dead at all since pay TV is still growing and traditional free-to-air viewing is also strong”.
On the content side, All3Media International CEO Louise Pedersen talked about the success of mystery hit series The Traitors, adapted in 20 countries and The Unknown, recently launched in The Netherlands, and she also added that it is easier to find content nowadays than in previous periods. "Some of those content can feel generic and the same, but there are a lot of opportunities for writers to create great stories”.
BBC News journalist and tv host Kazia Madera moderated the BBC Studios Showcase with Zbigniew Pruski, Commercial Director, Branded Services, BBC and she talked about the enormous success of unscripted shows like Dancing With The Stars, adapted in 61 countries, Bake Off adapted in 40 countries, quiz game show The Weakest Link in 50 countries and TOP Gear in 10. She also presents the unscripted lineup that includes quiz Money Bags, dating show Sex Rated and Just the Two of Us, just to mention some titles among the big hit shows.
A 20-minutes sneak and peek view of the amazing documentary Spy in the Ocean in which a close encounter with the ocean’s creatures is guarantee by spy-robots-fully equipped with high camera that follow whales, and octopuses under the sea. But BBC Earth brand is also the home of new series Mammals and well-known documentary series Planet Earth III.
The showcase was also the occasion to promote the first premium drama series from UK, such as Somewhere Boy, a Channel 4 drama series filmed in South Wales; Beyond Paradise, a BBC crime drama television series, a spin-off of the long-running crime series Death in Paradise and stars Kris Marshall (a second series was announced), plus a Christmas special, The Outlaws, which was confirmed for a third series.
