VIS Secures News Sales for Entertainment Formats

ViacomCBS International Studios (VIS) has inked a number of new sales and option deals for its entertainment formats, including Just Tattoo of Us, Lip Sync Battle, Finding Prince Charming, Ghosted: Love Gone Missing and Guy Code.

Germany’s RTL Television acquired the format rights for MTV’s Just Tattoo of Us for its VOD platform TVNOW. Now in its fifth season in the U.K., the format puts relationships to the test by asking pairs of friends, family members and couples to design tattoos for each other that they won’t get to see until they are permanently inked on their bodies. Hosted by Mike Heiter and Elena Miras and filmed in-studio without an audience and with minimal crew on set, the series is slated to launch on TVNOW on August 3.

In the Netherlands, ITV Studios is set to produce a Dutch version of MTV’s Ghosted: Love Gone Missing. The 6×60-minute series helps distraught individuals track down and confront a former lover, friend or family member in an effort to uncover the harsh realities of why they “ghosted” them. It will air this autumn on NPO3.

The French-Canadian youth channel Vrak has aired Code C (Confinement Code), an adaptation of the MTV comedy series Guy Code and Girl Code that was filmed and edited entirely remotely during Canada’s recent lockdown period. Produced by Zone 3, The 5×30-minute episodes rolled out in May and featured actors, comedians and influencers discussing their best tips to make the most of confinement at home.

VIS has also closed a raft of option deals with producers across Europe who are preparing to resume production. The option deals include dating reality format Finding Prince Charming in France (Herve Herbert Productions), studio-entertainment hit Lip Sync Battle in Denmark (Monday Productions), new musical competition format America’s Most Musical Family in Sweden (Meter/ESG) and Spain (Beta Productions); couples reality format Make or Break in Sweden; and survival competition format Stranded with a Million Dollars in Spain (Mediacrest).

Laura Burrell, head of formats at VIS, said: “No-one could have foreseen the sudden shut-down of global productions, but despite such challenging conditions, we’re finding that there is a huge demand for versatile, easily adaptable and more importantly fun, escapist entertainment formats. The VIS non-scripted catalog has proven incredibly attractive to buyers looking for formats that can be easily produced in the COVID-19 period and beyond.”