The Legend Begins with Global Agency

The brand-new singing talent show The Legend will make its world premiere at MIPTV, and Global Agency believes it has found “the next big thing” with this format.

The concept comes from Izzet Pinto, founder and CEO of Global Agency. He established the company nearly a decade ago and has been creating formats for the last three or fours years. He has taken the lessons learned from his time in the industry and parlayed them into a format-creation prowess that led to The Legend.

“In the formats business, it’s all about creating great feelings and passing them to the viewers at home,” says Pinto. “You need to make people get excited, get emotional, have fun—then you’ve really created the next big thing.”

In coming up with the concept for The Legend, Pinto says he took note of how formats typically allow the jury or the audience to decide the fate of the contestants. “I wanted to completely change that,” he says. “So with this format, we let the contestants themselves decide their fate, whether they should win or not.”

Global Agency shot a pilot in the Netherlands, and the show will have a world premiere during MIPFormats on April 3 in Auditorium A at 6 p.m.

Pinto says that he’s so confident in the show that the company has decided not to option the format in any country, but to only accept license deals. “I believe that [buyers] will fight to get the rights for it, because this format will create so much revenue for the channels and producers. I promise that this is the next big thing. I never speak with exaggeration; so if I’m saying this, I really mean it.”

He adds that even the format’s title itself makes a big promise. “We are not just looking for regular singers; we will create legends all around the world.”

In the past, Global Agency has allowed local producers to make some twists when adapting a format from the company’s catalogue. With The Legend, Pinto says that no changes are going to be implemented. “They need to have consultation and follow the bible,” says Pinto. “We have a proper pilot, so if they like the project they have to do it within our production bible. We don’t want any changes. We think the format is perfect as it is.”

Global Agency will be providing a high level of consultancy in each country where the format is licensed. The company has created a dedicated team of three who will travel the world and work with the producers in each market. Global Agency is also running 22 different campaigns for the marketing of this format.

In terms of broadcast targets, the format is best suited to large free-TV channels globally, Pinto says. “We even prefer to work with the channels that are in the second or third positions in their countries so that we can put them into the number one spot!” he adds. “We like that challenge.”

Currently, Global Agency is in discussion with “one of the top three record labels in the world” regarding an exclusive global partnership, according to Pinto. “We are also speaking with one of the top two beverage companies in the world that wants to be the exclusive sponsor.”

Pinto is enthusiastic that The Legend will take Global Agency to its next level as a company, “to be an even bigger and more powerful player in the format business.”