Mediawan Rights has expanded its unlisted division with the appointment of former Shine France CEO Jeremy Cliff, and is opening up to formats from outside producers.
Cliff was appointed deputy director of international sales for the unregistered unit which was launched by Mediawan Rights Managing Director Valérie Vleeschhouwer in April. Klif began his career in the United States at Mark Burnett Productions, and later served as Head of Sales and Acquisition at Shine France (“The Voice”, “MasterChef”) upon his return to Paris. He went on to launch Borderline Media, a production and distribution banner specializing in formats, in 2017. At Mediawan Rights, Klif will work alongside Estelle Bodén, co-founder of Swedish company Elk Entertainment, who serves as the division’s head of distribution. Like Klif, Bodén has a track record as an entrepreneur and has also worked in India and big groups like Strix Television.
With Bodén and Klif joining, Mediawan Rights is now set to distribute “aspirational and innovative formats from external producers, along with formats produced by internal labels,” says Vleeschhouwer.
Leading up to Mipcom, the unit launched its first real acquisition from an outside producer, “Slice of Life” (SLOL AB), a Swedish show (pictured) created by Björn Ulvaeus, a member of the popular pop band ABBA. The first two seasons of “Slice of Life” scored highly in Sweden on TV4 and the third season is in production. Cliff described Slice of Life as a “journey through time through food.” Each episode sees a famous person tasting dishes with their eyes covered, bringing back memories depicted in archives, photos and songs.
“It shows how your biggest memories in life are often associated with special dishes,” Cliff says, noting that a number of formats now have celebrities associated with them which gives them marketing appeal.
Mediawan Rights also boasts a range of 10 in-house produced formats, including “Time Hotel”. Produced by Ardimages and 3e il Productions, this format sees acclaimed French TV journalist Thierry Ardisson interviewing dignitaries, including Princess Diana and French actor Jean Gabin, thanks to an AI-generated tool called FaceRetriever. Each interview is based on archives and investigative work.
The rights to the “Time Hotel” format were sold to BlueEngine for the Middle East. Deals for the US and Canada are also in advanced negotiations. “Time Hotel” was also chosen by Mediawan-owned banners in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland and Germany.
Besides “Time Hotel” and “Slice of Life,” other highlights on Mipcom’s unregistered Mediawan Group roster include Skyhigh TV’s “Kids Buy a House”; and “Last Family Standing,” which is on its second season of Skyhigh TV. “It tells us it’s been renewed for a second season, because often formats don’t go beyond one order,” Bodén says. “Last Family Standing” is a series of realistic competitions where four families separately take on a survival challenge in the wild.
“Kids are buying a house” is a realistic entertainment show in which children set out to find their dream home for all their family members. The executive said the “kids buy a home” remake options had already been sold to Germany and Belgium.
Other successful performances on the Mediawan Rights list include “Euforia”, a Spanish singing competition format created to find the best voices in Catalonia – solo vocals and backup vocals.
“Euforia” broke the rating record for 20 years on Spanish television station TV3 and took 25.8 percent of the market share. An episodic part of “Euforia” is currently being produced in Veranda. Mipcom’s list of Mediawan rights also includes “Stars at Home” by Réservoir Prod.
“We are seeing more and more interest in formats; there is a huge demand, not only from broadcasters but also from broadcasters now,” continues Vleeschhouwer. She says she’s noticed a “new breed of mixed non-fiction formats, such as ‘Time Hotel,’ which is reinventing the interview format and being written.” Vleeschhouwer also says that the formats that work best in this market are fun and cool.”
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