Rose Rock Entertainment and Argonon USA’s Joe Weinstock and Nick Smith at Race Across the World distributor All3Media International offer their take on how the travel and adventure genre is being influenced by streamers and YouTube influencers.
Joe Weinstock, CEO of Rose Rock Entertainment and Argonon USA
How do you see the travel adventure genre evolving in the future and what shows will play a key role in that evolution?
In an era of reduced network budgets and a lower volume of commissions going to screen, it is imperative for producers to have greater ambition and to innovate across all genres of content, including adventure and travel, to deliver the next breakout hit show. Formats with high-octane entertainment value at the heart of the proposition can help deliver wider audience reach, including hard-to-reach younger demographics. In travel, as across all areas, genres are bleeding into genres and hybrid ideas with great talent and characters are coming to the forefront.
How are creators on YouTube and TikTok influencing the travel and adventure genre?
Content creators have huge and loyal digital audiences and are already disrupting the shape and future of the global travel sector, driven by the media consumption of Millennial and Gen Z audiences. Creatives ignore this trend at their peril across any genre; influencers are talent and their platforms offer an immediate snapshot of social and cultural trends. In developing large-scale ideas to appeal to a broad audience, this will always factor heavily in development.
How important are competition elements becoming to adventure shows and is this bleeding into travel?
Competition has always been a factor in the adventure genre, from The Amazing Race to I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!. We’ve recently seen an uptick in interest from commissioners and are developing an exciting format in this space – more news soon. The competition element offers intrigue and engagement, as well as broadening the appeal to a wider audience and offering bingeability in an on-demand world. That said, we are always developing in this genre with the question, “Can you see the show on a billboard and know immediately what it is?” to guide direction and resources.
How do you ensure that Rose Rock’s travel and adventure shows represent different cultures respectfully and accurately? And how is it encouraging sustainable ways to travel in its programming?
Reflecting the culture and experience of local people is an important element of any kind of content, travel or otherwise, local or international – especially in adventure and travel. The trend towards international co-funding of production makes it imperative to have a local and a diverse range of voices on screen. Sustainable production is engrained in all of our content. We work extensively with local crews when filming across international territories, and increasingly, climate-focused editorial and the normalisation of climate-conscious actions and behaviour have to be baked into content.
Nick Smith, exec VP formats at All3Media International
What inspired the concept of Race Across the World?
The concept was developed by Studio Lambert, which was asked to develop an adventure show featuring couples. They started discussing whether a couple could get to travel to the other side of the world without flying for the price of the airfare. The BBC liked the concept and asked Studio Lambert to look into a route, and it went from there.
What elements do you think have contributed to its popularity as a format?
Travel shows have been a mainstay of TV for many years, but Race Across the World feels very different. While we’re used to having a celebrity or presenter show viewers around a destination, in Race Across the World we become part of someone’s adventure. Audiences are experiencing something fresh and original, as they discover a place through the eyes of the contestants.
Although it’s a race, it’s lightly formatted. The contestants are not given challenges for our entertainment, they are given minimal instructions and get to make their own decisions. As a result, they forget they are part of a TV show, which is impossible in more heavily formatted shows. Casting is always key. Race Across the World doesn’t feature typical reality casting, with larger-than-life personalities, because the format doesn’t need that. The pairs have interesting backstories and a reason for travelling together, which is often as beneficial to the audience as it is to themselves.
Race Across the World contestents are different to those usually found on reality shows
How do you see the travel adventure genre evolving in the future and what role do you think Race Across the World will play in that evolution?
I feel confident that Race Across the World is here to stay. It has a different tone from other travel-adventure shows and it has been very successful in every country it has launched in so far.
Where are the key markets All3 is attempting to get the show remade?
We’ve seen huge success for the Danish version on TV2, with a fourth season airing earlier this year. Across Europe, we have seen the format adapted in Finland and the Netherlands, and ZDF has commissioned the series in Germany, with more European territories soon to be announced. We’d love to take the format to Asia; it would be great to see an Indian version!
Read a longer version of this article here.
