{"id":9724,"date":"2023-05-15T12:09:15","date_gmt":"2023-05-15T16:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/fox-alternative-entertainments-john-hesling\/"},"modified":"2023-05-16T09:24:09","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T13:24:09","slug":"fox-alternative-entertainments-john-hesling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvformats\/fox-alternative-entertainments-john-hesling\/","title":{"rendered":"FOX Alternative Entertainment\u2019s John Hesling"},"content":{"rendered":"

In early March, veteran executive and producer John Hesling was named executive VP, head of FOX Alternative Entertainment (FAE), FOX Entertainment\u2019s in-house unscripted studio. He has responsibility for overseeing the development and production of all unscripted series owned by FOX Entertainment, as well as programs FAE produces for third-party buyers in the U.S. and abroad. The slate includes hits such as The Masked Singer<\/em>, Next Level Chef<\/em>, I Can See Your Voice <\/em>and much more. He talks to TV Formats\u00a0<\/em>about the development slate, production pipeline and the International Unscripted Format Fund.<\/p>\n

\"***Image***\"TV FORMATS: <\/strong>What\u2019s guiding the development strategy for FAE at present?
\nHESLING: <\/strong>First and foremost, it\u2019s delivering hit shows to the network. My first order of business since joining FAE is immersing myself with FOX, meeting with Allison Wallach [president of unscripted programming for FOX Entertainment] and her team to understand what it is that they need and trying to anticipate what they don\u2019t even know that they need now. So, there are certain genres we\u2019re developing in that we know work well on network, like in the singing performance space, for example. So, there\u2019s a big focus on that, and we\u2019re doing a number of proof of concepts for a couple of new singing shows at the moment.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s also a focus on moonshots, if you will\u2014series you wouldn\u2019t necessarily think about on FOX. The shows that are completely unexpected and when you go and pitch them, they\u2019re like, \u201cWhat?!?!\u201d Things that are visually different or have an element to them that you haven\u2019t really seen before, in the same way The Masked Singer <\/em>burst onto the landscape. We\u2019re aggressively looking at concepts that you\u2019d never anticipate in a million years.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS: <\/strong>How many projects is an ideal number to have in development for a given year?
\nHESLING: <\/strong>We have approximately 30 shows in various stages of development. Some piloting proof of concepts, some just some germs of ideas spanning multiple genres and formats. It\u2019s important to keep your development focused so that you can really dive in deep on each project. If you have too many, you can only do a very superficial look at them, and your development can become unwieldy.<\/p>\n

A majority of our development is for FOX, as ownership is a key component of our overall programming strategy, but we do develop for our AVOD platform, Tubi, as well as third parties. The win-win for us is getting a hit on the network. But development isn\u2019t a very precise science, and we have the liberty to work with other platforms in the U.S. and abroad when and where a concept isn\u2019t a strong fit for FOX.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS: <\/strong>What about for the production pipeline?
\nHESLING: <\/strong>I\u2019m a producer at heart and want to be involved in as many series as possible; so, my reflex answer is the more shows, the better, frankly. I\u2019d say at any given time we have about eight to ten series in production that run the gamut, from The Masked Singer<\/em>, Name That Tune <\/em>and I Can See Your Voice <\/em>to our Gordon Ramsay series produced with his team at Studio Ramsay Global\u2014Next Level Chef<\/em>, Gordon Ramsay\u2019s Food Stars<\/em>, etc.\u2014and FOX\u2019s upcoming series Snake Oil<\/em>, hosted by David Spade and executive produced by Will Arnett, to the numerous third-party series we have in the works.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS: <\/strong>In terms of producing for third parties, what\u2019s the strategy there?
\nHESLING: <\/strong>While my mission is to create and produce owned IP for FOX, there\u2019s a meaningful market for premium unscripted content both in the U.S. and across the globe, which represents an amazing opportunity for FAE. In launching FAE, Rob [Wade, CEO of FOX Entertainment] and Allison laid the foundation for the studio to work with any and all buyers when and where appropriate. We recently produced the dating show Love Trip: Paris <\/em>for Freeform in the U.S. and several years ago formed our International Unscripted Format Fund to identify intellectual property for the global market that, in success, can be formatted for FOX.<\/p>\n

In that regard, we\u2019ve partnered with BiggerStage on the variety competition program The Big Deal <\/em>for Virgin Media Television in Ireland and with Workpoint in Thailand on the celebrity performance competition The Masterpiece<\/em>, which we are formatting for the international market as Celebrity Masterpiece<\/em>. Our newest third-party series include TF1\u2019s Beat My Mini-Mes<\/em>, co-produced with TF1 Production, and Marriage Market<\/em>, which FAE developed with (and for) ProSieben and will produce with Cheerio Entertainment.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS: <\/strong>Talk to me about producing international projects.
\nHESLING: <\/strong>One of the reasons I decided to join FAE is because it\u2019s the most interesting time in television that I’ve seen in my career. The unscripted space has truly become a global business, allowing us to innovate, explore and partner with like-minded companies.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no secret series can come from anywhere, no matter the provenance, and since the dawn of time, some of the best ideas have gone undiscovered. A big part of my job is to seek out and identify those concepts, and there is no shortage of creators and platforms with the most brilliant ideas, but not all of the pieces to bring them full circle. This is what makes our International Unscripted Format Fund all the timelier. We\u2019ve had great success on international partnerships that brought The Big Deal <\/em>to Ireland and The Masterpiece <\/em>to Thailand, and we\u2019re very much looking forward to Marriage Market <\/em>launching in Germany and Beat My Mini-Mes <\/em>in France this year. With this momentum, I anticipate FAE entering into more co-production partnerships to deliver quality formats that enjoy success on the local level but have enormous potential to travel to the U.S. and other territories.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS: <\/strong>Looking at the current entertainment landscape, what\u2019s working best at the moment?
\nHESLING: <\/strong>Oh, that\u2019s such a difficult question, isn\u2019t it? You\u2019ve got the sort of heritage shows that keep moving along. But the series that really have become part of the conversation are dating formats, like higher concept shows in the genre that have sort of a social experiment [element] to them that tie into something that’s inherent in human nature, adds in layers that make it a bit more eccentric and have meaningful stakes so viewers still care about it.<\/p>\n

So again, it goes back to that thing of just thinking about what is it that people really like? What are the universal conversations we always have in different languages around the world? It\u2019s about tapping into those but coming to those things with a slightly different angle, something that feels fresh and doesn’t feel derivative.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS: <\/strong>How does your previous experience, including at Maverick TV, Shed Media and BBC Entertainment, serve you well as you take on this role?
\nHESLING: <\/strong>I\u2019ve been really lucky in my career, doing so many different types of shows, and that’s from filming elephants in Northeast India and tribes in the middle of the Indonesian Rainforest to Dragons\u2019 Den <\/em>back in the U.K. to Real Housewives <\/em>since. So, I\u2019ve done the gamut of shows, right? And that has given me two really lucky things\u2014one of which is just an understanding of what makes a great show in whatever genre.<\/p>\n

And it\u2019s that kind of understanding of how to put together a show that feels unique and the audience is going to respond to. Also, international. I\u2019ve worked a lot abroad, whether it\u2019s in Britain or here in America or wherever it is in the world. I\u2019ve worked in heaps of different countries and that’s made me very excited about the possibilities and potential they each have. I think for me, it\u2019s a combination of the breadth of shows that I\u2019ve done and also the international experience of that.<\/p>\n

TV FORMATS: <\/strong>What are the big-picture priorities for the 12 to 18 months ahead for FAE?
\nHESLING: <\/strong>Hit shows. It\u2019s just hit shows, getting another hit show on the network, at least one, one or two hit shows in the network, and establishing ourselves in the broader buying community in America and throughout the world, as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The executive VP and head of FOX Entertainment\u2019s in-house unscripted studio talks about the company\u2019s development slate, production pipeline and International Unscripted Format Fund.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":350,"featured_media":9725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,69],"tags":[3057,1969,2000,2891],"class_list":["post-9724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-interviews","category-top-stories","tag-fae","tag-fox-alternative-entertainment","tag-fox-entertainment","tag-john-hesling","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nFOX Alternative Entertainment\u2019s John Hesling - 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\/fox-alternative-entertainments-john-hesling\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"FOX Alternative Entertainment\u2019s John Hesling - 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