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ITV leads way in Format Awards

MIPFORMATS: UK-based broadcaster ITV had three winning shows in four categories at tonight’s International Formats Awards dinner at ClubC21 in Cannes.

The 2019 Format Awards winners (Picture by Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com)

The commercial channel picked up four awards, including Best Studio Based Gameshow Format and Best Factual Entertainment Format for its breakout series What Would Your Kid Do?

The show, produced by ITV Studios (ITVS)-owned Twofour subsidiary Boomerang and distributed by Twofour Rights, launched in the UK with 3.9 million viewers and has sold to nine territories.

ITV also picked up the prize for Best Returning Format for its reboot of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? from Sony Pictures Television’s Stellify Media, and Best Brand Driven Format for Back To Mine from ITVS-owned Shiver.

The channel’s former director of television, Peter Fincham, picked up the annual International Format Gold Award for his career in the business spanning stints atop Talkback, BBC1, ITV and now Expectation, the indie he launched with former Endemol Shine president Tim Hincks in 2017.

Speaking to the audience in Cannes this evening, Fincham said he felt it important for a Brit to be collecting the award at this point because “we’re good at this. We’re good at formats, we’re good at creativity. We’re bad at politics. If Brexit was a format it would have been scrapped after the pilot.”

Other notable prize-winners included Channel 4’s The Circle, from Studio Lambert and Motion Content Group and distributed by All3Media International, which won Best Reality Format and has been picked up internationally by Netflix.

All Together Now, from Endemol Shine Group’s Remarkable TV for BBC1, took home Best Competition Reality Format, and Make Your Country Great Again for VTM in Belgium won Best Multi Platform Format.

The full list of winners for the awards handed out this year by C21 in association with MipFormats, Frapa and Entertainment Masterclass, is as follows…

Best Brand-Driven Format

Back to Mine
Produced by: Shiver
For: ITV
Distributed by: ITV Studios Global Entertainment

One curious singleton is given the chance to snoop around the homes of three potential dates! With nothing to go on other than the homes they live in, who will they choose to meet? And when the tables are turned and the chosen date gets a chance to play detective, will they agree to date or ditch?

Best Studio-Based Gameshow Format

What Would Your Kid Do?
Produced by: Boomerang (Twofour Group)
For: ITV
Distributed by: Twofour Rights

This primetime show launched in the UK with 3.9 million viewers and premiered as ITV’s Best Performing Factual Entertainment series. Now commissioned across 9 territories including Belgium, Turkey and Hungary, it’s gone viral with more than 220 million minutes viewed online, 200,000 subscribers on YouTube. In a time of resurgence of gameshows, it has multi-dimensional appeal across both generations with children, not adults, being in charge and picking the prizes.

Best Scripted Format

The Fall
Created by: Avalon Television Ltd with Birdbath Productions and Merman
Produced by: Léonis
For: TF1
Distributed by: Endemol Shine Group

The French version of the international hit psychological thriller was 19% up on TF1’s slot average. Criminologist Chloé Fisher (Emmanuelle Seigner) travels to Lyon to investigate the murder of the daughter in-law of an MP. Another murder confirms that a serial killer is on the loose. Across the city, psychiatrist Paul Brodsky (Melvil Poupaud) puts his children to bed. Who could imagine this loving father is stalking the city?

Best Multi-Platform Format

Make Your Country Great Again
Produced by: FC Panache
For: VTM
Distributed by: Be-Entertainment

A team of young TV makers embark on a mission to MAKE THEIR COUNTRY GREAT AGAIN! With three kinds of missions on every episode: a personal mission, a society mission and a community mission. They tackle universal problems such as food waste or plastic consumption all in their own fresh and charming way. A highly entertaining and successful series on all levels.

Best Comedy Format

Stories from Norway
Produced by: Concorde
For: TVNorge
Distributed by: NordicWorld

A ground breaking project and generally unforgettable series that has created a new genre: The investigative musical. Each episode follows a different story: covering some of the most bizarre, unforgettable and unlikely stories that have reached, astonished and startled the public eye. It brings originality and humor into investigative reporting in a never-seen-before way. With its mixture of original interviews and musical numbers, it gives a magical touch to storytelling.

Best Competition Reality Format

All Together Now
Produced by: Remarkable TV
For: BBC1
Distributed by: Endemol Shine Group

In just one year All Together Now has made itself known as an international feed-good format. Having sold to 12 territories in 12 months including Brazil, Australia and across Europe it became the fastest travelling new format of 2018 and achieved record ratings. It’s all about joining in and this universal concept has enabled the format to be adapted easily, already having been hubbed and with a UK celebrity edition.

Best Reality Format

The Circle
Produced by: Studio Lambert, Motion Content Group
For: Channel 4
Distributed by: all3media international

The Circle’s innovative reality gameshow reinvented the reality genre in 2018, skillfully recreating how we communicate today and manipulating modern rules of engagement for jaw-dropping nightly cliffhangers. With identity stripped away, our cast are free to chat, flirt and fight as (and with) whoever they want, so the format allows for endless narrative twists and casting mischief. A true original, with more to come on Channel 4/Netflix in 2019.

Best Host of a Television Format

Amy Poehler – Making It
Produced by: Universal Television Alternative Studio
For: NBC
Distributed by: NBCUniversal Television Distribution

From the hilariously satirical Parks and Recreation, comedy best friends Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman reunite in this fun and exciting design challenge show, which celebrates the creativity in all of us. The dynamic duo, who both share a passion for craftsmanship keep contestants on their toes and entertained, as they try their hand at a series of fun, handmade challenges.

Best Factual Entertainment Format

What Would Your Kid Do?
Produced by: Boomerang (Twofour Group)
For: ITV
Distributed by: Twofour Rights

This primetime show launched with 3.9 million viewers and ITV’s Best Performing New Factual Entertainment series. It’s now commissioned across 9 territories including Belgium, Turkey and Hungary, and has gone viral with more than 220 million minutes viewed online and 200,000 subscribers. It’s a fun-filled, family orientated show, with an added distinction of factual takeout which tests everything from empathy to lateral thinking and rule-breaking in both kids, and adults.

Best Returning Format

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
Produced by: Stellify Media
For: ITV
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Television

The biggest show in the UK returned with the biggest star in the UK and a new lifeline, ‘Ask The Host’! The re-launch entertained 6.1 million (31% share) and won its slot every night of broadcast. Aired in over 120 countries and produced in over 80 languages, with many new countries launching (and re-launching), Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? is the ultimate evergreen brand that continues to deliver iconic entertainment around the globe.

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