Media Ranch picks Horsepower candidates

Canadian producer and distributor Media Ranch has chosen eight candidates to participate in its format incubation project Horsepower 2.0.

Sophie Ferron

The incubation process will begin in January 2020 with six months of workshopping in an attempt to create eight fresh formats for international broadcast and distribution.

Media Ranch’s head of content and storytelling, Phil Kalin-Hajdu, senior VP Tanja van der Goes, and president and exec producer Sophie Ferron will all mentor the chosen candidates throughout the process. Additional mentorship from top format producers will also be available.

The winning format will receive funding from Quebecor Content in order to develop the format for broadcast, while Media Ranch will manage production and global distribution of the winning project. Formats created by remaining candidates may also be developed and distributed.

The Horsepower 2.0 candidates are: Marianne Mercier-Lacombe, Widmayer Edouard, Amélie Tintin, Isabelle LaPerrière, Alexandre Perras, Gisèle Palancz, Justine Salette and David Bourgeois.

Ferron said: “Media Ranch is so pleased to launch our Horsepower 2.0 incubator with eight outstanding creative individuals, who have a diverse background.

“From the first iteration, we found that new programme ideas can be born from all walks of life and we are excited to start this journey. In six months, we expect to find some truly unique formats. Media Ranch continues to be the go-to company for local content creators, producers and broadcasting platforms – attracting and fostering the best talent in the world.”

The winning format from Horsepower 1.0 was titled Family Tripped and was created by An Tran. The project is a dating format and is currently in development.