Red Arrow Studios International’s Tim Gerhartz

Tim Gerhartz, managing director at Red Arrow Studios International, has noted demand in the entertainment market at the moment for positive stories that provide a degree of escapism. The company is ready to deliver, with hits such as Married at First Sight and the newly launched Stranded on Honeymoon Island. Gerhartz shares with TV Formats his views on unscripted entertainment and the risk-taking in the current format marketplace.

TV FORMATS: How is the current market for unscripted entertainment faring?
GERHARTZ: The market for unscripted, and particularly formats, is pretty healthy at the moment. In fact, I would say it’s having a bit of a renaissance. A lot of exciting new shows have launched over the last 12 months, which has shone a spotlight on the genre once again. And of course, in times of economic uncertainty when budgets are under pressure, unscripted fare can definitely be a cheaper alternative to scripted.

TV FORMATS: What’s the climate for risk-taking like for brand-new concepts?
GERHARTZ: You have to take risks, whether you are a producer, a distributor or a broadcaster. The industry has to constantly innovate and push the envelope to keep the attention of viewers. This year we launched Don’t Panic, an offbeat entertainment format produced by Nawi Pro for KAN 11 in Israel in which a journalist and a comedian look at the best way to manage an emergency in a lighthearted and at times amusing way. It’s a show that manages to make globally significant topics accessible to a broad audience while pushing boundaries.

TV FORMATS: What’s working best in today’s environment?
GERHARTZ: Aspirational reality formats with positive stories that provide a degree of escapism are working well for us. Married at First Sight continues to be a big revenue generator; it’s now been produced in over 30 territories.

So far this year, we’ve had a lot of success with our latest reality format, a dating adventure show called Stranded on Honeymoon Island, created by our sister production company Snowman Productions (also the creators of Married at First Sight). Initially commissioned by VTM in Belgium, where it outperformed across all the demos, we’ve secured commissions in Australia, Germany, Portugal and the Netherlands since launch, with many deals at advanced stages of negotiation.

Another format that is generating interest for us is Hold the Front Page, produced by CPL Productions for Sky Max and NOW in the U.K. It’s a factual-entertainment show in which two celebrities (comedians Josh Widdicombe and Nish Kumar in the U.K. version) spend each episode in a different town working as reporters for the local newspaper in search of scoops, scandals and surprising stories. Of course, they find that the world of local news generation isn’t quite as straightforward as it looks. It’s a really amusing and entertaining show that’s a great vehicle for the right talent.

TV FORMATS: What’s the strategy for some of the longer-running and more established brands in the catalog?
GERHARTZ: For a format to have longevity it needs to be adaptable, offer the possibility for reboots, provide flexible scheduling opportunities and deliver a broad audience. Married at First Sight is a good example of a format that works cross-platform, as it serves the needs of both traditional linear channels and VOD platforms, which really adds value. Many clients produce the format locally and also acquire tape versions; some channels in Europe even commission two local versions of the format: a more traditional factual-entertainment version for their linear platform and a younger-skewing version for their VOD service. All of which help keep the format new and fresh in the eyes of the viewers.

Spin-offs or brand extensions are another effective way of maintaining a format’s momentum. Good examples are Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds, from which a spin-off, Old People’s Home for Teenagers, launched on ABC in Australia, while in Germany, SAT.1 has launched The Taste Kids and more recently The Sweet Taste, both spin-offs from The Taste, the cooking competition format which first launched on ABC in the U.S. in 2018.

TV FORMATS: What must a new concept have in order to break through in today’s landscape?
GERHARTZ: It’s about finding that gap in the market and providing viewers with something different. Sometimes it’s a fresh take and a new twist on an existing genre. For instance, Stranded on Honeymoon Island is quite a different proposition because it brings together two reality subgenres—dating and adventure—in a unique way. There are lots of dating shows out there, and there are lots of adventure shows. There are also adventure shows where people team up as couples—but generally, the purpose is to win cash, not to find out if they are a fit.

In Stranded on Honeymoon Island, the couples are completely isolated with few resources and only each other for support and company for three weeks. It may be an idyllic location, but when things get difficult, which they always do, there is nowhere to go—and no one else to turn to but each other. So, the couples have to figure things out together in a mutually dependent and very intimate way—they find out pretty quickly if they are compatible. It’s a fast-track relationship experience that would normally take new couples months, if not years, in a more conventional scenario. And I think that is pretty compelling for the audience.
Another example, this time in the game-show genre, is Stealing the Show! It has an unusual twist, in that the contestants compete against the host for a chance to take over as quizmaster in the next episode. It’s a genuinely original and compelling format point that’s helped drive record ratings. The show is now in its fifth season on ProSieben.

TV FORMATS: Where do you see the greatest opportunities in the formats market as you look at the year ahead?
GERHARTZ: Reality TV is still hot, and broadcasters are always looking for the next big thing, but after years of dramatic reality shows, we are seeing a demand in the market for more authenticity, a desire to bring the real-life experience back into reality in a genuine and honest way while still delivering great entertainment and drama.