{"id":10910,"date":"2024-10-21T11:39:44","date_gmt":"2024-10-21T15:39:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/amazons-james-farrell-yoshimotos-akihiko-okamoto-talk-collaboration\/"},"modified":"2024-10-21T11:40:42","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T15:40:42","slug":"amazons-james-farrell-yoshimotos-akihiko-okamoto-talk-collaboration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/amazons-james-farrell-yoshimotos-akihiko-okamoto-talk-collaboration\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon\u2019s James Farrell & Yoshimoto\u2019s Akihiko Okamoto on Collaboration"},"content":{"rendered":"

James Farrell, head of international originals at Amazon MGM Studios, and Akihiko Okamoto, president and representative director of Japanese content powerhouse Yoshimoto Kogyo, discussed their long-standing partnership that resulted in the global hit LOL\u2014Last One Laughing<\/em> in a MIPCOM keynote today.<\/p>\n

LOL\u2014Last One Laughing<\/em> started life as Documental<\/em> a decade ago, when Farrell was heading up original content in Japan. It has since been remade in some 20 markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was hired by Amazon in April 2015, and we really wanted to get going fast in Japan,\u201d Farrell said. \u201cI very quickly went to Yoshimoto and other top producers and broadcasters around the country, seeing what ideas that they had. When we went to Yoshimoto, we were looking for a big comedy variety format because variety is so popular in Japan.\u201d<\/p>\n

The concept was pitched over dinner, and a deal was signed the next day, Farrell explained. \u201cThey said, We have an idea that\u2019s too crazy for broadcast television. It\u2019s going to be a documentary of comedy\u2014a documentary, gone mental. We want to call it Documental<\/em>. It\u2019s going to be ten comedians in a room. No rules, just trying to make each other laugh. I pictured ten of my favorite comedians going to battle, trying to make each other laugh. I said, That\u2019s going to be a hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Okamoto, speaking via translator Matthew Ireton, noted, \u201cWhen I heard that Amazon was launching in Japan, we thought it was a great opportunity to make something for the world. With that in mind, [we] created this show.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued, \u201cWe didn\u2019t know how it was going to be at the beginning, but we made sure that we found a common language, a common denominator of what we think is funny and what we find interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Okamoto went on to note, \u201cThe creator of the show, Hitoshi Matsumoto, really pushed the boundaries. Working with Amazon was such a great opportunity for us because of this. We have all of our other 6,000 talents in our roster who want to make something for the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

The format is \u201cheavily\u201d adapted for each market, Farrell explained. The French and Italian editions, for example, play to a four-quadrant audience, while the upcoming U.K. edition \u201cis more potty humor,\u201d he said, while \u201cin Mexico and Columbia, it skews more edgy. But it\u2019s the number one show in pretty much all those places because it does adapt itself to the local sense of humor.\u201d<\/p>\n

The show was a game-changer in Japan, Okamoto said. \u201cIt gave inspiration to a lot of our talents to come up with show ideas that would translate all over the world. Moreover, we\u2019ve been making a lot of shows with our partners in Japan, especially the terrestrial networks. We hope that we\u2019ll be creating shows like that with them as well. It definitely changed the landscape.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farrell added that Amazon is \u201cflying all of our unscripted teams from around the world to Tokyo in a few weeks to meet with the Yoshimoto team at their headquarters. We really do think that they\u2019re a comedy goldmine, and we want to make sure we find that next hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The panelists were then joined on stage by Nicole Morganti, who heads up originals for Amazon in Italy, and Thomas Dubois, head of France, who weighed in on their versions of the LOL<\/em> format. Both stressed the importance of getting the casting right. \u201cIf you gather the wrong team of people, the magic is not going to be there,\u201d Dubois said.<\/p>\n

The conversation then moved to LOL<\/em> spin-offs, such as a Halloween edition in France. Next up will be LOL\u2014IRL<\/em>, set in a public place and featuring celebrities as well as everyday people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Farrell, head of international originals at Amazon MGM Studios, and Akihiko Okamoto, president and representative director of Japanese content powerhouse Yoshimoto Kogyo, discussed their long-standing partnership that resulted in the global hit LOL\u2014Last One Laughing in a MIPCOM keynote today.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":10911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[3992,3649,3993,3699,176],"class_list":["post-10910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-akihiko-okamoto","tag-amazon-mgm-studios","tag-james-farrell","tag-lol-last-one-laughing","tag-yoshimoto-kogyo","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nAmazon\u2019s James Farrell & Yoshimoto\u2019s Akihiko Okamoto on Collaboration - TVFORMATS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/amazons-james-farrell-yoshimotos-akihiko-okamoto-talk-collaboration\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Amazon\u2019s James Farrell & Yoshimoto\u2019s Akihiko Okamoto on Collaboration - 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