Setting out the Jake Vision with Beerend Jan Kepinski
Experienced Dutch exec Beerend Jan Kepinski continues to bloody the noses of the bigger name Polish producers with Jake Vision, a go-to for Polish adaptations of international formats. Getting some original entertainment reality of his own heading the other way is the next goal.
Beerend Jan Kepinski
Given the Netherlands’ rich history with companies such as Talpa and Endemol and shows like Big Brother and The Traitors, it’s perhaps no surprise to find a Dutchman succeeding in the formats business, but Beerend Jan Kepinski has made his name in Poland.
Having studied at the Film School in Lodz and begun his career at Endemol Polska, directing Big Brother among other shows, he moved to local commercial broadcaster TVN and directed adaptations including Dancing With The Stars and Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. In 2011 he founded Jake Vision, which has become a go-to in Poland for adaptations of global franchises including Top Chef, Hell’s Kitchen, Ninja Warrior, Bake Off, The Traitors and Love Island.
More recently, the company produced the Polish adaptation of the dating format My Mum Your Dad as part of its partnership with UK-based ITV Studios to bring its formats to Poland.
Kepinski believes his background is one of the reasons an indie prodco like Jake Vision has been able to compete with – and beat – larger, international conglomerate rivals in Poland.
The Polish version of The Traitors proved a hit
“I’m originally a trained director of photography at film school, where students were expected to do everything from casting and production to management and scheduling,” he says. “I transitioned into the television industry because at the end of the 1990s the cinema business in Poland was not booming like it is today with the rise of the streamers. I began directing various formats, including talk shows, gameshows, comedies and reality TV, like Big Brother.
“At Jake Vision, we’ve got a great team and we’ve proven that a Polish company with new, fresh talent can compete with major international players. We’ve produced some great shows like Undercover Boss and Bake Off, which have earned us trust in the industry. I believe our success comes from a combination of my international experience, my film school education and my roots in Dutch TV, which has produced some of the biggest format creators in the world.”
Clearly, the Jake Vision slate is dominated by remakes of international hits. Is that through choice or the market’s attitude to riskier original ideas?
“It was very difficult for many years, but I believe some broadcasters are starting to open up to new ideas and we hope this will shape the future because we have some really good ideas – after 25 years of working on international formats we know what works and what doesn’t,” Kepinski says.
“It’s certainly more difficult with the major five channels here because they’re hesitant to commit large budgets to shows without an international track record. This is something we want to work together on with the broadcasters because we all know the stories behind The Traitors, Big Brother, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire – their creators faced the same struggles.
“The Traitors was pitched for five years before RTL finally took it on. But even then, they split the rights with [Traitors creator and prodco] IDTV. That’s exactly the kind of model we’re aiming for to put Poland on the map, but we need a partner willing to take that leap. We’re certainly ready, both creatively and financially, to make it happen.”
Beerend Jan Kepinski has directed adaptations of Dancing With The Stars
There have been scripted moves at Jake Vision as well, with the 2019 acquisition of DGA Studio, from which TVN drama Motive was the first project to emerge. Now rebranded as Jake Vision DGA Studio, the company is led by Dorota Kośmicka-Gacke. The Polish version of classic British sitcom The Office is among its hits.
There are some big, established players in Poland, with Warner Bros Discovery owning terrestrial TVN and Netflix adverts plastered over what feels like 90% of Warsaw’s billboard space.
“There’s now a big difference in the budgets offered by various broadcasters,” Kepinski says. “Some are still stuck in a mindset that a 25-minute show costs X and a 45-minute show costs Y, but the rise of players like Netflix, HBO Max, Amazon, Disney and SkyShowtime has undoubtedly driven a significant shift towards higher budgets. These platforms are providing larger budgets because they want the premium quality and it’s changing the market. Polish broadcasters need to catch up because for many years they’ve held a monopoly and the industry here was quite closed.”
According to Kepinski, despite facing the same recessionary pressures of TV markets worldwide, Poland remains a highly developed market with high production values and relatively low costs. This positions the country well to take advantage of international productions looking to save on budgets, he believes.
“The recession has impacted markets everywhere and prices have risen in Poland as well. However, we can still produce high-quality series and movies with Polish crews at a reasonable cost,” he says. “This is something that we are looking into and actively working on.
“At Jake Vision, we’ve created production hubs for the Italian and Spanish versions of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. The hosts and contestants flew in, and we shot it with a Spanish- and Italian-speaking audience in our studio here. While Covid disrupted this model, we have since produced a hub for the Dutch version of Love Island and we want to offer this service in the future – not only hubs in Poland but also international hubs with Polish crews. We did that for Belgium’s The Traitors.
Kepinski continues: “Poland offers incredible variety for filming. You have mountains, seaside, Dutch-like architecture or even German-style structures. There’s tremendous filming potential here for the international productions looking to tap into the diverse and unique locations the country has to offer.”
That growth in production hubs is part of a multi-pronged three-year plan for the company. “Firstly, we want to develop more formats through our agreement with ITV Studios,” Kepinski says. “Secondly, we aim to establish more production hubs, both in Poland and internationally. And finally, we want to create our own entertainment formats, series and films.
“We are also very focused on finding a location to build a large TV studio. It’s a significant investment, but it is something we are seriously considering. There is competition, but I believe there is still room for us in this space.”