FRIDAY'S ESPRESSO - 13th October
The most followed newsletter about unscripted in the world
1. AN ANTI-DEPRESSIVE JOURNEY
According to the trailer, 25% of young people suffers from disorders related to depression, and almost half of them have problems with stress. The new adventure reality show The Life Trail starts from these premises. It premiered last 6th October on Netherlands-based streamer Videoland, produced by SimpelZodiak, that developed it together with RTL Creative Unit, a sibling of Videoland.
Three hosts (the actors Nasrdin Dchar and Walid Benmbarek, with Erik Wegewijs, a former member of the Royal Netherlands Army’s elite special forces unit, pic above) follow eight young people as they embark on a life-changing adventure through Switzerland to improve their psychological wellbeing and overcome their greatest challenges. At the end of the show each person that completes the trip will be able to open their bespoke prize, a gift designed to spark their dreams.
The series, above all thanks to the breathtaking and extremely various Swiss landscapes, seems quite interesting and enjoyable. Just a couple of notes on the fly. First, the premise of the show is just a premise, without much entering in the story, remaining a bit in the background compared to the usual extreme trials.
Second, in this kind of show there are no differences at all between streamers and “traditional” linear channels (see, for example, the other 2 recent surviving/adventure shows: the German 7 vs Wild or Good Luck Guys: Overleven Zonder Filter, from Benelux); and this is absolutely no criticism, just a fact.
2. ANOTHER COUPLE OF LINE-UPS FOR MIPCOM: PASSION AND RABBIT INTERNATIONAL
In the last issue we wrote about the MipCom slates of 2 big prodcos; now let’s consider a couple of distributors, also in this case focusing on the unscripted contents we haven’t mentioned before.
The first one is the UK-based sales house Passion Distribution that will present, among other programs, Strip!, produced by Firecracker, which premiered on Paramount+ Sunday 1st October. This brand-new reality series uncovers the glamorous world of one of the biggest, busiest and best strip clubs in Las Vegas: Crazy Horse III Gentlemen’s Club.
From the glitzy stages to the VIP rooms in the super clubs, Strip! will follow a main cast of nine women onstage, backstage and at home, all determined to be the best in the business.
The second one is Rabbit International, the international distribution arm of Finnish prodco Rabbit Films, that has been named as the distributor of all contents from its parent company Monday Media Group. Among the unscripted titles, we point out The Nation’s Next Fashion Designer (not to be confused with Netflix’s Next in Fashion), which premiered last August on Danish DR1. The show is a “super-classic” elimination-based competition reality format with 12 skilled wannabe designers, 2 judges, and 8 weeks to compete to be The Nations Next Fashion Designer.
In their catalogue there is also Losing It Together, a factual produced by Teddy TV that aired this spring on NRK1 in Norway (where it’s currently the highest performing non-scripted series of the year). It features Else Kåss Furuseth, a famous female comedian, who is joined by four normal people on a year-long weight loss journey, both ironical and emotional.
3. STICK THE MONEY!
Finally, Israeli distributor Keshet International will present a funny physical game-show developed internally, which is still on paper. Stuck! - that’s the title - sees contestants try to attach as much money as possible to sticky suits. Families, groups of friends, colleagues – anybody can form a team, suit up into our Sticky Suits, and go through hilarious and physically challenging studio games on sets that move, twist and shake.
Their goal is to attach as many coins and bills to their body as they can while avoiding getting stuck – literally – to the set, where everything is sticky, and to the “Wall of Stuck!”, which sees unlucky contestants get "hung up" for rounds of the game until their Teammates can buy them back.
Even the studio audience will have the chance to show off their STUCK! skills – and win some cash – by playing audience games throughout the show.
At the moment it’s still a paper, but - unlike too many others - with an original and bold idea at its basis.
