MIPCOM Spotlight: ITV Studios Global Entertainment

October 12, 2014 World Screen Top Stories
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CANNES: The reality format The Secret Life of Students/Teens is a lead offering for ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVS GE).

It features a new technological innovation developed to track the digital lives of its contributors. The technology captures digital data, from voice calls and messages to Facebook posts, tweets and search histories.

“The result is a completely new and modern observational documentary format, in which the digital content drives the narrative,” says Mike Beale, the director of international formats at ITV Studios.

The company is also presenting Quiz Duel. Beale calls Quiz Duel “a simple but addictive quiz show.” The Line is a game show that sees people waiting in line to get the chance to win an ever-growing jackpot.

Meanwhile, a scripted highlight for the company is the new NBC drama Aquarius, which is seeing its world premiere at the market. The series, which is set in Los Angeles in the 1960s, stars David Duchovny as a police sergeant tracking a small-time criminal and budding cult leader who turns out to be Charles Manson.

The company is also bringing out Poldark, an adaptation of Winston Graham’s acclaimed saga set in 18th century Cornwall, and Jordskott, a Scandinavian crime drama with a mythological twist.

At MIP Junior yesterday, ITV Studios Global Entertainment presented the world premiere TV screening of Thunderbirds Are Go, a reinvention of the classic series from the 1960s. The new iteration is set to debut on ITV and CITV in the U.K. in spring 2015.

“There is already so much anticipation for the show since we started to unveil its development and production earlier this year, both with commercial partners and fans of the original 1960s show,” says Dan Gopal, the executive VP for EMEA distribution and global digital partners at ITV Studios Global Entertainment.

Gopal says that Thunderbirds Are Go will respect the values of the original in terms of characters, story line and themes of family and heroism, but will be updated for a modern audience.