2024 MIPFormats Pitch Finalists Unveiled

MIPTV has revealed the five finalists who will present their original unscripted entertainment formats at the 2024 MIPFormats Pitch, staged in partnership with ZDF Studios, on April 7.

Out of 89 submissions from a record 29 countries, the selected finalists are Tuvalu Media (the Netherlands) for Villa Incognito, LGH Entertainment (Norway) for 25, David Tobiasz (Canada) for A.I of the Beholder, Chulapo Pictures (the U.K.) for The Stupid House and Phillip Sindermann (Germany) for Unknown Champions.

The finalists were chosen by an international jury comprised of Ilan Astrug, VP of formats acquisition and sales at Warner Bros. International TV Production; Siobhan Crawford, content and founder of GLOW MEDIA; Julien Degroote, executive VP and head of content development at TF1 Group; Ella Umansky, VP of format acquisitions at ITV Studios; and Ralf Rückauer, VP Unscripted at ZDF Studios. They will also be the judges on the pitching day.

The annual session will take place in the Palais des Festivals on April 7, the second day of MIPFormats, at 4:30. One winner will be selected live on stage and will receive a financial contribution of €2,000 for development, in addition to complementary accreditation to a future MIP market and access to coaching and mentoring expertise from within the ZDF Studios group for a year.

“There is a tendency in the market to revive existing formats that audiences are familiar with,” Rückauer said. “This makes it all the more interesting to look at fresh, unusual and completely new ideas. We were pleasantly surprised by the number of submissions and their diversity and originality. I look forward to meeting the five finalists of this exciting competition in person in Cannes.”