Banijay Accelerator to Support Female Unscripted Creators

Banijay has launched a new global accelerator program to support female creators with unscripted formats.

Banijay Launch is geared toward discovering and incubating untapped talent to support the next generation of global franchise-makers. It will provide selected women with mentorship by Banijay’s global collective of creatives to aid them in developing new formats from concept to pitch to sale.

Conceived as an enterprise-level strategy to address gender inequity and fuel creativity, Banijay Launch will seek out undiscovered formats with international appeal from a pool of women across the globe.

To support the program, Banijay Americas has commissioned a first-of-its-kind study with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, in partnership with Everywoman Studios. The study will investigate women’s inclusion in creative leadership roles in unscripted production across four territories: Brazil, the U.K., the U.S. and one EU territory to be determined.

Sharon Levy, CEO of Endemol Shine North America, commented: “As a group, Banijay is constantly exploring new ways to support the broader content community, diversify its pipeline and ultimately sharpen its creative edge. With an undisputed track record of traveling IP, expansive cross-territory network of first-class producers and industry-leading unscripted infrastructure led by Creative Networks, the business is primed to open its doors to yet-to-be-discovered creative minds. Through Banijay Launch and the partnership with the Geena Davis Institute, we hope to welcome women creators who may be struggling to have their voices heard, setting a new narrative for the industry and fostering the next generation of breakout unscripted formats.”

Marco Bassetti, CEO of Banijay, commented: “We are proud at Banijay to have over 50 percent of our managerial positions globally filled by women. However, we recognize the landscape has not always supported this demographic of creators in breaking through. With Banijay Launch, we are vested in spearheading a raft of new unscripted format ideas ideated by women, and in doing so, we hope to bring new voices and talent to the market with the potential of creating the next Survivor, MasterChef or Big Brother…”