KPopped exec to develop new projects while leveraging Canada’s tax incentives to reduce costs
Canada’s Sphere Media has agreed a creative partnership with KPopped and Dancing with the Stars exec Moira Ross to develop US and UK unscripted coproductions.
The exclusive pact will see Ross working on established and new IP, initially focusing on dating shows, social experiments and talent competitions.
The formats will be produced for international partners at a hub in Canada, leveraging the country’s tax incentives to deliver large-scale studio formats at “significantly more cost-effective levels” than elsewhere, Sphere said.
Ross recently worked on Apple TV+ music series K-Popped and The Masked Singer for Fox in the US, and also has credits on Dancing with the Stars and its UK equivalent Strictly Come Dancing.
She was previously editor of format entertainment at the BBC and founded production label, Panda, with All3Media.
“Producers everywhere are under intense pressure to deliver more with less whilst pre-production budgets shrink and expectations keep rising,” Ross said.
“Canada feels uniquely positioned at this moment to be a global hub and partner with clear advantages in cultural alignment and budget competitiveness. I see huge potential to build exciting, ambitious, premium formats here where we can breathe life into fresh ideas and put every dollar on screen.”
Sphere Media chief exec Bruno Dubé added that the agreement would allow the company “to unlock new creative and commercial opportunities with US and UK partners while further strengthening Canada’s position as a hub for premium entertainment formats.”
Ross will work with Sphere’s roster of creators and producers including Kim Bondi, Marie-Pier Gaudreault and Renaud Chassé on projects.
Sphere Media has adapted more than 40 formats in recent years, including Got Talent (Fremantle), One Question (NBCUniversal), What Would Your Kid Do? (ITV), Dementia Choir (BBC) and Five Guys a Week (Fremantle).
The formats push is the latest move for Sphere Media, which has been reorganising its operations over the past nine months. Unscripted chief Marlo Miazga stepped down in July and the company merged with Quebec-based producer Zone 3 in November.
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