{"id":7220,"date":"2019-10-07T13:00:59","date_gmt":"2019-10-07T17:00:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2019-11-18T10:16:43","modified_gmt":"2019-11-18T15:16:43","slug":"it-takes-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/it-takes-two\/","title":{"rendered":"It Takes Two"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"In the quest for the next big thing, format distributors are partnering up with broadcasters and producers to co-develop titles that will have global appeal.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The word \u201cco-development\u201d has been popping up quite a bit in the format business, as distributors are increasingly looking to alliances with producers and broadcasters in the hopes of coming up with a global hit. More than just a buzzword, this collaborative format strategy can help with costs, risk and getting concepts off the ground. It also puts to the test the age-old adage of \u201ctwo heads are better than one\u201d with regard to creativity.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe business has become tougher\u2014tougher in its demands and tougher on the budgets that networks can allocate to new shows,\u201d says Avi Armoza, founder and CEO of Armoza Formats, which recently joined the ITV Studios group. \u201cDevelopment, by nature, is the most expensive and riskiest part of the business. So, wherever broadcasters or partners can reduce risk and make a more cost-effective cooperation, this is the major [motivation] for co-development.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Israel, we are very creative to find a solution of how to do things without a lot of money, to be attractive and catch the eyes of the people,\u201d says Nadav Palti, the president and CEO of Dori Media Group, which has co-developed a slew of formats with various partners around the world.<\/p>\n

Sophie Ferron, founder, president and executive producer at Media Ranch, highlights the creative benefits that co-development with international partners can bring about. \u201cThe world is more and more global, so it makes sense to partner with others to create something that has wider appeal,\u201d she says. \u201cAlso, not all partners\u2014networks, creators, producers, distributors\u2014come with the same approach, so it gives the project a broader audience.\u201d<\/p>\n

WORKING TOGETHER<\/strong>
\nEarlier this year, RTL Group established its own Format Creation Group (FC Group), dedicated to the development of factual-entertainment formats and reality shows. The group will be working closely with RTL broadcasters in different countries \u201cto reflect their needs in the local markets,\u201d says Matthias Scholten, managing director of FC Group.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuccessful programs in the Netherlands also often work well in Germany, France or Spain, and conversely, a format that flopped in one country is generally also likely to flop in another European country,\u201d Scholten adds. \u201cAt FC Group, we can learn from the different experiences within the RTL Group broadcasters to become ever more innovative.\u201d<\/p>\n

FC Group is jointly financed by RTL Group\u2019s major broadcasters Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland, M6 Group and RTL Nederland, serving as an add-on to the development teams of the respective networks, Scholten explains. \u201cThe development teams within the broadcasters are close to their own \u2018daily fires\u2019 and rightly have their focus on the time slots of their own channels; we will bear this in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are advantages to working directly with broadcasters, says Armoza. \u201cWhen a broadcaster is involved, you can already look into the possibility of having a season produced. Or, if you need to produce a pilot and invest in building a set.\u201d<\/p>\n

CASTING A WIDE NET<\/strong>
\nIn addition to working with networks, Media Ranch is co-developing projects with format creators, brands, producers and distributors. \u201cWe have many types of co-development partnerships,\u201d says Ferron. \u201cIt\u2019s very important to us to start with a strong relationship with creators, so that they trust us with their ideas\u2014to come to us first, knowing that we will make their idea shine and collaborate as partners. The same can be said with networks that need content partners to help them with their programming needs; we can\u2019t collaborate without the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Media Ranch aligned with Quebecor Content to launch Horsepower, a six-month incubator initiative aimed at creating exportable TV formats from Quebec.<\/p>\n

Dori Media Group has around 25 titles that have come out of co-developments, among them Power Couple<\/em>. Developed in partnership with Abot Hameiri, it has been adapted in markets such as Germany, Mexico and Brazil. \u201cAbot Hameiri was responsible for the production, we did the development together, but we\u2019re responsible for the distribution worldwide. We split the revenue,\u201d Palti explains.<\/p>\n

Armoza Formats previously aligned in a development deal with France\u2019s TF1. \u201cThere are at least two big formats that we are very proud of that came out of this co-development, but they [aired] elsewhere,\u201d Armoza explains. \u201cIt was successful from the perspective of development and our ability to sell the formats worldwide, but it was not successful from the point of view of [broadcasting] within France.\u201d<\/p>\n

The studio game show Babushka\u00a0<\/em>was developed in partnership with TF1 but was commissioned in Turkey, Spain and the U.K. Similarly, Armoza Formats worked with the French broadcaster on the entertainment show The People\u2019s Choice<\/em>, which was ultimately commissioned in Turkey, Brazil and India. \u201cAlthough we did the development in France, we kept our independence and flexibility to market those shows internationally,\u201d Armoza explains.<\/p>\n

TAKING THE LEAD<\/strong>
\nDespite all of the apparent benefits that co-development can bring, the arrangement is not without its challenges. To avoid some of the pitfalls, Armoza suggests that creatively, there needs to be one clear leader. Then it\u2019s about assessing complementary strengths, such as if one partner has production capabilities or if one has direct ties to a broadcaster or platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is creative collaboration, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s the essential part,\u201d says Armoza. \u201cThe commercial perspective is more of a key element in the agenda. When you create, you need to have as few people [as possible] who have a clear vision to execute the show. Keeping it too wide can create conflict and doesn\u2019t push the format forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Media Ranch\u2019s Ferron has a different stance: \u201cThere is the financial risk that is shared, but truly, we really value the creative process,\u201d she says. \u201cThat is our main focus\u2014a freshness and different point of view offer different strengths.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Ferron, the main challenges in co-development are working with different personalities, countries\u2019 cultures and levels of expertise. \u201cWe need to quickly come to an understanding of exact roles in the development process,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother key challenge is to remind ourselves that we\u2019re creating a format,\u201d Ferron continues. \u201cSo, the idea needs to be developed accordingly, and we need to make sure we are developing something that the market is actually looking for\u2014hopefully creating a format that the market wants and needs but doesn\u2019t know it yet.\u201d<\/p>\n

With its positive view on co-developing formats, the company is aiming to enter more alliances in the future. \u201cCo-development is a strong and desirable focus for Media Ranch,\u201d says Ferron. \u201cWe want to join forces with the most brilliant, creative international creators, producers and networks from around the world to develop the best format to come.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the quest for the next big thing, format distributors are partnering up with broadcasters and producers to co-develop titles that will have global appeal.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":350,"featured_media":7221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,69],"tags":[103,143,1480,1788],"class_list":["post-7220","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-features","category-top-stories","tag-armoza-formats","tag-dori-media-group","tag-media-ranch","tag-rtl-group","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nIt Takes Two - 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\/it-takes-two\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It Takes Two - TVFORMATS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In the quest for the next big thing, format distributors are partnering up with broadcasters and producers to co-develop titles that will have global appeal.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/it-takes-two\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVFORMATS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-10-07T17:00:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-11-18T15:16:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/07\/POWER-COUPLE-DORI-THUMB-1019.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"319\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kristin Brzoznowski\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kristin Brzoznowski\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/it-takes-two\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/it-takes-two\/\",\"name\":\"It Takes Two - TVFORMATS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-10-07T17:00:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-11-18T15:16:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#\/schema\/person\/0026b5a5c019f9a498d0a452e6e9d4be\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/it-takes-two\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/it-takes-two\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/it-takes-two\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"It Takes Two\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/\",\"name\":\"TVFORMATS\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#\/schema\/person\/0026b5a5c019f9a498d0a452e6e9d4be\",\"name\":\"Kristin Brzoznowski\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/author\/kbrzoznowskiworldscreen-com\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"It Takes Two - TVFORMATS","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/it-takes-two\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"It Takes Two - TVFORMATS","og_description":"In the quest for the next big thing, format distributors are partnering up with broadcasters and producers to co-develop titles that will have global appeal.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/it-takes-two\/","og_site_name":"TVFORMATS","article_published_time":"2019-10-07T17:00:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-11-18T15:16:43+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":319,"url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2017\/07\/POWER-COUPLE-DORI-THUMB-1019.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kristin Brzoznowski","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kristin Brzoznowski","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/it-takes-two\/","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/it-takes-two\/","name":"It Takes Two - TVFORMATS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#website"},"datePublished":"2019-10-07T17:00:59+00:00","dateModified":"2019-11-18T15:16:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#\/schema\/person\/0026b5a5c019f9a498d0a452e6e9d4be"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/it-takes-two\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/it-takes-two\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/it-takes-two\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"It Takes Two"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#website","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/","name":"TVFORMATS","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/#\/schema\/person\/0026b5a5c019f9a498d0a452e6e9d4be","name":"Kristin Brzoznowski","url":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/author\/kbrzoznowskiworldscreen-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7220","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/350"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7220"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7220\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7220"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7220"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7220"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}