MIPCOM Spotlight: Global Agency

CANNES: Three new competition-style formats are headlining the slate at Global Agency, which has also made moves into the factual arena.

Blind Taste is a cooking format in which five contestants rate each other’s dishes while wearing a blindfold. The chef with the highest score wins. “Cooking shows have been popular in many countries, and Blind Taste is a fresh idea with new elements that will appeal to international buyers,” says Izzet Pinto, Global Agency’s CEO. Fashion Icon, which has already enjoyed success in Turkey, is a style format that aims to pinpoint the nation’s next fashion star. The Truth Hunter features celebrities trying to determine whether contestants are lying or telling the truth. “Celebrity-based shows are extremely popular with viewers, and The Truth Hunter combines this with high-intensity strategy and a unique structure,” notes Pinto.

In addition to selling entertainment formats, films and drama series, Global Agency has decided to dabble in reality, documentaries and lifestyle content with its recent acquisition of the brand rights to World Wide Entertainment, an Australian factual-entertainment distributor. The last six years have seen considerable growth at Global Agency. The Istanbul-based outfit, founded by Izzet Pinto, started with entertainment formats, focusing on “formats that create buzz.” The company then began to add films and drama series to its slate and is now entering the factual arena with the acquisition of the World Wide Entertainment brand.

Rather than retaining the current titles in the World Wide Entertainment catalogue, Pinto, who serves as CEO, has decided to build a new slate from the ground up. “We want to freshen up the brand,” he says. “The brand has been existing for the last 15 years, which shows its strength. On the other hand, we want the buyers to be excited by fresh content. This is our strategy, to take the strong name but have a brand-new catalogue that will be exciting.” He adds, “We will have very strong content for MIPCOM. We will probably not have a huge catalogue, due to the limited amount of time, but I know that the very selective titles we will choose will be very appealing to the clients.” Pinto says that to amass the initial slate, the company is working with a number of leading producers from the U.S.