MIPCOM: FremantleMedia is to revive late ’90s Sky1 reality format The Villa and the company’s distribution arm is doubling its investment in kids content.
The Villa ran for four series between 1999 and 2003 and the plan is to reinvent it using structured reality principles. It features young attractive men and women who are taken to a sunny villa, plied with booze and left to enjoy themselves.
The new version has been adapted from the Talent TV original by FremantleMedia’s Blue Circle in the Netherlands and it debuted successfully on RTL5, exceeding average share of 20-to 34 year-olds by 114%.
The format will sit on Fremantle’s slate alongside Talkback Thames refresh of Through the Keyhole and Japanese format Body Bowling, which sees contestants hurl themselves down a bowling lane to knock over pins using their body.
Separately, FME’s investment in its new Kids and Family Entertainment division will be doubled over the next few years, chief executive Tony Cohen has said. He picked out the division as one of the company’s key growth stories and hopes to build on the success of Canadian drama My Baby Sitter’s a Vampire with projects such as a new version of boys adventure animation Max Steel.
The extra investment in kids was one of three key growth opportunities that Cohen highlighted.
Second was branded entertainment. @Radical, its business specialising in that area that works with the likes of American Express and General Motors, will open a London office in the next few months.
The final was gaming, where Cohen said the business model moved “at warp speed” and where the it has shifted from focusing on console games to those played using social media or on mobile.
FME has also started to represent Happy Film’s CITV show Bookaboo with a view to securing international deals.
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