Tresor Hunting for Entertainment Gems

It has been 30 years since Tresor TV Produktions was launched, and it has been producing a broad swath of entertainment programs for the German-speaking television market.

In terms of what’s hot today in the format landscape, Axel Kühn, managing director, says: “It seems like everybody is waiting for the next ‘next big thing’! In the meantime, feel-good formats seem to be trending, and surprisingly, some ’80s game shows have recently enjoyed a successful comeback. Many new formats on the market just seem to be mash-ups of existing formats without any real innovations.”

He adds that if the current global political and economic situation continues, the demand for feel-good shows that deliver some kind of escapism should remain high.

“Tresor’s success is based on spotting international hit formats before others and localizing them as much as necessary to make them successful,” says Kühn. “This worked well on formats like Supernanny and Top Model in the past and, most recently, I Can See Your Voice. One of the biggest challenges we are facing when adapting a format is the German broadcasters’ demand for prime-time shows of at least two hours. Not every format can easily be extended to that length or more.”

And Tresor works with a wide range of broadcast partners. “There is no channel or platform we don’t work with,” says Kühn, “from the private channels and platforms of ProSiebenSat.1 Media, RTL Group and Discovery to the public channels, as well as all streamers.” However, he does admit that non-scripted commissions with streamers in Germany are still rare.

In terms of localizing established formats, “We have an excellent relationship with many Asian producers and distributors, so after working with CJ ENM for three seasons of I Can See Your Voice for RTL, we are working on bringing The Wall Duet to German screens,” says Kühn. “We also work closely and very successfully with MGM. Being part of the Keshet International family means we get access to their catalog, too. We’ve adapted Keshet’s Masters of Dance for ProSieben and Crackit Productions’ The Good Girl’s Guide to Kinky Sex and Kan’s Stockholm for VOX. After the adaptation of Generation Gap for WDR, we are the first territory to bring Wheels of Glory to air, and I can tell you that we also got a commission for another MGM format away. With the commission of Gladiators by the BBC, we are convinced that we will be able to sell a German version of this amazing format immediately.”

In-house format development is also part of the Tresor business line. “Together with one of the major channels, we are working on a big spectacular prime-time game show that uses never-before-seen elements,” Kühn teases. “We’ve already put more than two years of work into this format, and we expect to be in the studio soon. This format will definitely be recognized globally.”