FRIDAY'S ESPRESSO - 28th July
The most followed newsletter about international formats & factuals
1. SURVIVING ON THE SEA AND ON THE ISLAND
Survival shows have always been very popular, but lately even more so. Sunday 30th July, 2 brand-new formats (among others) will premiere on Discovery.
The first one is Survive the Raft, produced for Discovery by Critical Content. This new series will place 8 strangers on one boat (Alcali II) to see how well they can survive living and working together on the sea. But unlike many other survival shows, this one has a competitive aspect to it: the contestants will be put to the test with mental and physical challenges that will test their abilities to work as a team.
When they are sent out on missions and are successful, a cash prize is added to the prize, with the goal of having a pot large enough to be split among the team members. But will they be able to survive these abrupt challenges, or will they turn against each other and give certain team members the sack?
One of the reason of interest is also that the series is inspired by a behavioral study done in 1973 by a Mexican anthropologist named Santiago Genovés. The study was to see if people from all walks of life and varying cultural backgrounds could work together over 100 days on the Acali raft. The experiment proved very interesting, with an increase in violence and interpersonal chaos. Survive the Raft revamps this study, and it will certainly be interesting to see how the results will change (if they do) 50 years later.
The second one is Naked and Afraid Castaways, spin-off of the “classic” Naked and Afraid (launched in 2013). The upcoming series, which will actually follow the same premise as the original show, will feature nine contestants (former participants of the previous series) as they are left stranded on a remote island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
However, unlike the previous show, the surviving has become even harsher: they will have no maps, bearings, or tools to ensure their survival during their stay. The cast will have to make do with their bare hands, their skills, and the things they can find from the wreckage of a ship, an abandoned military jeep, and a crashed airplane to survive. Starting out in groups of three, this combustible mix of seasoned pros -just like Survive the Raft - will either come together or fall apart.
2. EVENTS & FORMATS
The border between events and formats is sometimes blurred: the recent case of Tiny Desk Korea is emblematic. The original Tiny Desk Concerts is a video series of live concerts hosted by NPR (National Public Radio), an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization.
Now this kind of “formatized events” will have the first-ever international TV format version on LG U+, the streaming platform under LG Group in South Korea: up to 52 episodes will be produced, released weekly, in the same intimate style of the original U.S. series, with a slight reinterpretation and localization for Korean audiences. The show, with emerging and established artists, will premiere later in August 2023.
Jin Woo Hwang (pic) of Something Special, that will serve to develop and expand the Tiny Desk Korea brand, explained the point to us: “Tiny Desk as 'a series of concerts' is only an idea and the idea is not 'the format', but the basis of the format. How did NPR maintain the brand success for so long? How does NPR treat the artists before the live performance when it's not in a concert area? What are the main points when participating artists arrange their songs for the show? Are there any standards on the cast of freshly debuted artists? […]. Nobody buys only ideas. But they acquire formats because there are knowledge + production know-how + brand + experience + pros & cons + mistakes + adapting points + producers’ philosophy+ etc. on how to execute the original idea into a successful show.”
In any case, it’s a brilliant operation that combines the 2 most important media assets of Korea: format & K-pop music.
3. SUSTAINABLE FASHION
The “Do-The-Right-Things” trend is blooming also in formats and unscripted world. A good example is Re-Fashion, created by the Mexican prodco Dopamine. The format was one of eight projects selected as finalists in the C21 Global Entertainment Format Pitch at Content London 2022, sponsored by ITV Studios. Now ITV Studios and Dopamine have reached an agreement to develop and distribute it in global markets.
In this fashion competition clothings are recycled from the entire country. 12 designers will face off in 8 creative challenges while proving that recycling is glamorous. A national marketing campaign will be launched to collect the pre-assembled clothing and transform it into unique creations.
Each week, designers must create pieces using recycled clothing that will walk the runways in iconic locations. The participants will be judged by a panel of 3 celebrities: two fashionista stars and a special guest that will change in each program. And, the final touch: the winner of the contest receives a grand prize and the title of the most trendy and sustainable designer in the country.
Another project of Dopamine, Tu Vida en 3 Minutes (Your Life in 3 Minutes), was one of the four selected at Conecta Fiction & Entertainment 2023’s Pitch Feelgood Formats sidebar last June, and it will be co-produced by Shine Iberia. A great combo for the Mexican prodco.
