Former ITV entertainment commissioner Asif Zubairy picks out his highlights from the inaugural French format event
The organisers of the first Paris Unscripted Showcase probably didn’t have the world commercially splintering into its own geographical territories on their bingo card.
They probably just intended to stage the first ever TV sales convention devoted entirely to unscripted formats.
But as geopolitical events unfold, this week’s Paris Unscripted Showcase (or PUSH, to those in the know) had a distinctly European-and-proud-of-it feel.
Over 120 buyers from 15 different territories filled three different venues in the hunt for the next big thing in terms of TV formats. MIP London was more for the big companies, one distributor said, and got a laugh of approval from the room.
PUSH, however, felt like an event where smaller companies could showcase their wares, so distributors like Can’t Stop, Dori Media, Rabbit Films and We Make presented formats that many buyers might never have seen - even though most of them are on-air somewhere.
And the European-ness didn’t stop with the croissants and pastries that were available to attendees.
The over-riding trend - apart from a few Traitor-esque dialogue-based strategy games - was a very European-flavoured one of local-ness and community.
Finnish prodco Rabbit Films reminded buyers of their long-running and successful quiz show City Vs Country, where teams of city dwellers take on rural opponents who try to work out what a hover-board is, whilst townies try to guess where the bluetooth button is on a hay baler.
“How is it that Israeli distributor Dori Media’s The Power Couple - sold in 14 different territories - has never even been tried in the UK or US?”
French distributor We Make presented The Big Great Battle, a quiz show featuring regional teams aiming to demonstrate which areas of France had the cleverest inhabitants, and The Country’s Favourite Village. And before cynics scoff over a competition show where local villages boast about their local customs, food and costumes, the show is in its 14th season and does a 13% share for its France 3.
In a similar vein, French distributor The Satisfaction Group reminded buyers of their Folk Song Of The Year and Choir Of The Year formats, both of which have been going strong since 2021.
Israeli distributor Keshet presented formats they’d held back from their London screenings, including their take on local communities with Emmy-nominated Dear Neighbours, where a village aims to help one of its young inhabitants find a suitable love-match. It’s already been made in Austria, Germany and The Netherlands, and The Hallmark Channel in the US.
Format mysteries & sizzling reels
Very few paper formats looking for broadcasters were presented so most of the sizzle reels buyers saw highlighted some of the mysteries of TV: how come Can’t Stop’s The Assembly (a recent hit for ITV, where neurodivergent people interview celebrities) hasn’t been optioned in the US yet?
And how is it that Israeli distributor Dori Media’s The Power Couple - sold in 14 different territories and featuring couples facing physical and mental challenges that test their relationship - has never even been tried in the UK or US?
And how can We Make’s talent show Starlight be almost completely unknown outside Morocco, where it’s about to record its fourth season and enjoys a 44% domestic share?
To these jaded old eyes, tired of celebrities being placed in ‘fish out of water’ situations, going on road trips or starting up businesses, the formats that stood out were Rabbit Films’s Ultimate Escape and Keshet’s quiz show Domination.
Ultimate Escape follows teams of two who are separated geographically by hard-to-navigate terrain and must find their way back together inside 24 hours, while Domination explores the way a nation (who has to be beaten) is subdivided into groups of vegans, car mechanics, red-heads etc.
In terms of crowd pleasers, the two formats that enjoyed best audience reactions were M6’s Cougar Island and Can’t Stop’s Stranger Sins from Germany, whose sizzle reel - of couples trying out their sexual fantasies on camera - was just that: sizzling.
The overall mood of the inaugural PUSH was upbeat and optimistic.
The TV industry has been pretty grim the last couple of years but if the smile on the faces of French town Etaples’ local folk dance troop just losing out in the Folk Song of the Year competition is anything to go by, unscripted will get us out of this.
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