FORMAT FUNDS:
WHAT THEY’RE LOOKING FOR Two format funds have recently been announced, from NBCUniversal and Fox. NBCU has tied with the BBC to form a development partnership. Open to UK producers, they are looking for “ambitious, platform- defining ideas with transatlantic potential, which will resonate across their respective linear and streaming platforms.” A broad range of unscripted is welcome
and ideas might be piloted or further developed. Diversity, both on screen and behind the camera, is important. Recent shows where the BBC has worked with NBCU include The Wall, The Wheel, The Weakest Link and Dragon’s Den. Submissions will be overseen by BBC entertainment commissioners Pinki Chambers and Neil McCallum, and Sharon Vuong and Ed Havard for NBCU.
Meanwhile, Fox Entertainment and its in-house studio, Fox Alternative Entertainment, has launched a £70m fund to find new global unscripted vehicles. Rob Wade, president of Alternative Entertainment and Specials of FOX Entertainment, will be responsible for overseeing the fund. “Many of the most powerful series that have changed the face of television were unscripted formats that originated outside the
United States,” says Wade. FAE was formed in 2019 to oversee the production of Fox’s hit singing-competition series and television’s The Masked Singer. Shows produced by FAE include Crime Scene Kitchen, singing competition Alter Ego, Domino Masters and Next Level Chef, a cooking competition, hosted by Gordon Ramsay, made by Studio Ramsay Global.
company’s global streamer Discovery+ just over a year ago.
Pay TV platform the Smithsonian Channel, part of ViacomCBS, has recently repositioned as a more dynamic and character-driven non- fiction platform. Its aim is to try to understand the present by using history and to examine the intersection between pop culture and history. James Blue, head of the Smithsonian Channel and SVP Docs explains that the Smithsonian Channel has its own three-word mantra for anyone pitching: “people, planet and progress.”
Rachel Watson, director of programme development at the Smithsonian Channel, says that there’s scope for ideas that work across ViacomCBS properties, like an upcoming special about fighter jets made with the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum to coincide with the release of Paramount Pictures’ blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick. Looking at CBS, there’s the world of Star Trek and Twilight Zone, or Paramount’s drama Yellowstone has potential for historical specials or series to line up with the planned prequel to the popular Western-themed drama.
As with Nat Geo and Disney+, shows on Smithsonian can be scaled up to feature on its streaming service Paramount+.
SERIOUS DOCS ON PBS
Following the global success of UK indie Curve Media’s How Did They Build That? for Smithsonian Channel, Paramount+ has recently ordered 10 new episodes of the international architecture series.
At American public broadcaster PBS, the factual staples are science, natural history and current affairs. It’s interested in climate and the environment, the state of democracy and social justice stories and is also keen to find ways to relate historical moments to today, according to PBS’ chief programming executive Sylvia Bugg. It needs to find content for strands POV, Frontline and Independent Lens.
Amazon’s own US streaming service
IMDb.tv has recently had an original programming push, commissioning new titles including Luke Bryan: My Dirt Road Diary, a five-part mini-series following the country music star. Bug Out is a true crime documentary that explores the theft of $50,000 worth of rare live insects from a Philadelphia Bug Zoo and there’s a celebrity interior design show with Jeff Lewis.
Hell’s Kitchen See the Televisual Factual Films at
televisual.com 27
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