Ukraine is a safe place for formats

Screening of TV formats at the conference Format Show, which took place on September 14 within the framework of Kyiv Media Week, was started by Nicola Söderlund, President of Swedish distribution network Sparks Network. According to Söderlund, Ukrainian TV formats market has the following characteristics:

-          High level of competition between channels

-          The absence of format piracy – in this sense Ukraine is a safe place for business

-          Blocking of formats by some companies, who buy formats but don’t produce and don’t air them

-          Ukrainian production is of a high quality and is on the level with European countries

 Summarizing his speech, the expert said with confidence: “Ukraine has everything necessary for the creation and production of the original formats. In Europe and the rest of the world there’s always a demand for the new ideas. If the idea is interesting enough, there will be people who would want to implement it. This is proven, for a example, by the interest that Spanish companies expressed in the project “Jail Birds” produced by FILM.UA – Ukrainian member of Sparks network. During the formats screening Sparks Network made a debut presentation of the Dutch format, docudrama Murder Women - stories of women who have committed a murder. The program is made on the basis of convicts’ testimonies. 

Hide the Smile TV-format sold to Ukraine

1+1 group of companies optioned the local rights for the Finnish format Hide the Smile from the American company Small World IFT. Tim Crescenti, President of Small World IFT, revealed this in his exclusive interview to Content Report Daily. This show has also been licensed for production in the USA, Canada and China. The main task of the show’s participants is not to laugh in some really hilarious situations. The original version of this show won the Best Show 2009 award in Finland.

At the yesterday’s conference Format-Show Mr.Crescenti has delivered a speech on how Ukraine could become one of the leaders of television industry. 

WeiT Media will produce 2 more scripted adaptations for Ukraine

As Timur Weinstein, general producer of WeiT Media, told in his interview for Content Report Daily, his company currently has 2 more scripted adaptions in production, which are commissioned by Ukrainian broadcasters. Namely, these are the adaptations of TV-formats Diggers from Dori Media Group and The Tribe from Endemol. Referring to the conditions of the agreements, Weinstein refused to reveal the names of channels which commissioned the production.

TV-series “Diggers” was created in 2010 and tells about a life of a 14-year-old Jonathan who was left by his mother at a foster home more than a decade ago.  All this time he’s waiting for her to come back. When Jonathan hears of the mystical Wishing Stone that has been discovered in the basement of the museum across the street, he decides to dig a tunnel from the foster home to the museum in order to get to the stone that will, as he believes, bring his mother back.

“The Tribe” debuted on British Channel 5 in 1999. It is set in a hypothetical near-future after all the adults have been killed by an unknown virus. They only survivors are the children up to 17 years of age - the virus did not affect them. But how will they survive in this new world with no adults to guide, rule or protect them?.. The whole civilization collapsed in a blink of an eye, and now it must start from the very begging, from the primitive communal system. In order to survive, children unite into tribes, members of which do everything together – hunt for their food, protect their territory, fight and trade with other tribes. We witness the development of a new history of humankind – new empires emerge and collapse, new religions appear.