{"id":8134,"date":"2021-03-29T09:00:44","date_gmt":"2021-03-29T13:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2021-03-30T09:15:32","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T13:15:32","slug":"wbitvps-andrew-zein-on-whats-trending-in-formats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/wbitvps-andrew-zein-on-whats-trending-in-formats\/","title":{"rendered":"WBITVP\u2019s Andrew Zein on What\u2019s Trending in Formats"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andrew Zein, senior VP of creative format development and sales at Warner Bros. International Television Production (WBITVP), talks to <\/em>TV Formats about how the company was well-served throughout the pandemic to weather the ups and downs of the various markets with a footprint that spans 14 countries with 24 companies.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cOn the format-production side, like all production, it grounded to a halt in certain territories in the March-April period,\u201d says Andrew Zein, senior VP of creative format development and sales at WBITVP. \u201cUnscripted got back into production a lot quicker than dramas. We did find that there were challenges in making things Covid-proof, but most unscripted formats are in a set location, so Covid-proofing production for unscripted is way easier than dramas.\u201d<\/p>\n

He has seen, as of late, broadcasters ordering longer runs for shows that managed to push forward in production in order to fill empty slots.<\/p>\n

With regard to format sales, Zein says the company felt the effects of delayed production, with broadcasters holding off on ordering second, third, fourth seasons. \u201cThere was a six-month knock-on in terms of reorders,\u201d he notes. \u201cBut, in the last quarter of the year, we saw that in pretty much every territory, the ad market rebounded. People were buying shows and ordering. We\u2019ve been investing in third-party shows and are happy to spend money because we see the opportunities out there.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds that margins on productions are slightly lower because of adding in Covid testing and protocols, elements that slow things up or increase costs.<\/p>\n

In terms of what\u2019s been working well, Zein highlights First Dates<\/em>. The show \u201cabsolutely continues to perform in the schedules,\u201d he says. \u201cIt is relatively straightforward to set up in a Covid-compliant environment. In every territory where that was on-air, it\u2019s been reordered and is in production with longer runs. It\u2019s daily in Spain, Holland and Germany. In the U.K., it\u2019s still prime-time event TV. All of those versions have been produced in the last six months. We\u2019ve just launched Teen\u00a0<\/em>First Dates<\/em>, which is absolutely fantastic. We had been looking forward to it, but we\u2019ve all been surprised by how refreshing and distinctive it is from the original over-18s version. In the last few weeks, with that launch on E4, broadcasters from around the world have been approaching our production companies about it.<\/p>\n

The Supernanny<\/em> versions around the world have kept going, while shows like Who Do You Think You Are?<\/em> that require international travel have been tougher. \u201cWho Do You Think You Are?<\/em> has been working in schedules, but that\u2019s one where we\u2019re pushing things 6 to 12 months out because you can\u2019t jet off on a plane to go discover your roots as easily,\u201d Zein says.<\/p>\n

The location-based factual-entertainment formats Cash for Trash<\/em> and The Repair Shop<\/em> have managed to get back into production and stay in production, he adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing that illustrates buyers\u2019 appetite is we picked up The Wheel<\/em>, hosted by Michael McIntyre for BBC One. That\u2019s hit the ground running.\u201d The show has been commissioned in Holland for SBS. The combination of it being a prime-time BBC One event, and reordered in the U.K., and having landed a U.S. adaptation with NBC has made it sought-after in the marketplace, with many discussions ongoing around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cBroadcasters are slightly more circumspect about new shows than they have been in the past,\u201d Zein admits. \u201cBut we\u2019ve got a couple of things that are within the group that we\u2019ve managed to get licenses or second sales before the first has even been produced, let alone been on-air.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bachelor<\/em>, he says, continues to do well everywhere it\u2019s sold. The show has had eleven seasons in Germany, a long run in Sweden and is being produced in Denmark, though filming in Finland has been delayed due to Covid. In Australia, The Bachelor<\/em> and The Bachelorette<\/em> continue to roll, and in South Africa, The Bachelorette <\/em>is proving to be a hit. \u201cWe\u2019ve not seen The Bachelor<\/em> fall off the air anywhere,\u201d Zein adds. \u201cIt is doing well as that escapist, mother of all romantic formats.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking at scripted, the Belgian courtroom drama The Twelve<\/em> has been commissioned by Foxtel in Australia, marking the first English-language adaptation. Love Me<\/em> from Sweden, which has had two seasons on Viaplay, was also picked up in Australia as an English-language adaptation. Warner Bros. represents the third-party Australian format True Story<\/em>, a hybrid scripted\/non-scripted show, and licensed it to Amazon for France, where there\u2019s been a second season, and it\u2019s now in development for Spain. The Mentalist<\/em> and Pretty Little Liars<\/em> still see an appetite in Central Europe and Russia, and both have been adapted in Asia. \u201cThose U.S. self-contained one-hour formats are working well,\u201d says Zein.<\/p>\n

For a third-party title to sit in the catalog, Zein is looking for \u201csomething that you look at and say, Oh my god, I wish we had made this! It\u2019s got to be really, really good!\u201d<\/p>\n

He gives as an example the digital comedy How to Buy a Baby<\/em> from Canada. \u201cThree or four of our territories had been looking at how that would be as a half-hour comedy. The Swedes were the first to get that away on Discovery. It\u2019s brilliant; it\u2019s everything we could have hoped for. They\u2019ve taken a digital short and turned it into a scripted half-hour. We\u2019ll get that over elsewhere because it feels real and authentic.\u201d<\/p>\n

He says that the overall strategy is to have a broad range of strong formats to appeal to different clients: \u201cYou want the shows like The Bachelor<\/em> that have been around ten-plus years and are prime-time and proven, shows like The Repair Shop<\/em> that work well in daytime, and having big studio entertainment shows are important.\u201d He\u2019s excited about a new show out of Holland called Ultimate Chain Reaction<\/em>, in which competing teams try to construct uber-complicated, over-developed machines to do the most basic of tasks. The show is in production and launching soon. \u201cIt\u2019s about having a mix of the new and the old, and formats can cover all parts of the schedule,\u201d says Zein.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The senior VP of creative format development and sales at Warner Bros. International Television Production (WBITVP) on how the company was well-served throughout the pandemic to weather the ups and downs of the various markets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":350,"featured_media":8135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,69],"tags":[1427,406],"class_list":["post-8134","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-profiles","category-top-stories","tag-andrew-zein","tag-warner-bros-international-television-production","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nWBITVP\u2019s Andrew Zein on What\u2019s Trending in Formats - 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\/wbitvps-andrew-zein-on-whats-trending-in-formats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"WBITVP\u2019s Andrew Zein on What\u2019s Trending in Formats - TVFORMATS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The senior VP of creative format development and sales at Warner Bros. 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