France’s Fluent in 40 wins Content Europe’s inaugural format pitch contest 

L-R: Jasper Hoogendoorn, Lenna Bauerly and Thom Champion

CONTENT EUROPE: French travel and competition format Fluent in 40 has won the inaugural edition of the Content Europe Global Entertainment Formats Pitch.

The project, which comes from French prodco Wonder Circuit, was crowned the winner just minutes ago here in Lisbon, besting seven other pitches in a highly competitive field.

The format sees contestants being dropped into France with one mission: to become as fluent in the native tongue as possible in just 40 days, facing tasks such as working a shift in a busy café or taking part in a karaoke night. At the end of the 40 days, the contestant demonstrating the biggest transformation wins a cash prize and an extended stay in France, with weaker performers being eliminated over the course of the season.

In the pitch on Tuesday, creator Lenna Bauerly explained that Fluent in 40 is designed as a global format that could be set in alternative countries and languages.

Inaugural Content Europe Global Entertainment Formats Pitch winner Fluent in 40

The Content Europe pitch competition focused on three key genres – primetime entertainment, reality and social experiment, and factual entertainment – with a judging panel consisting of Jasper Hoogendoorn, chief creative officer, Talpa Studios; Sumi Connock, exec VP, creative network and formats, BBC Studios; Niklas Vestberg, head of formats and development, TV4; Nathalie Wogue, founder, Wogue Entertainment; and Niklas Vargö, development and intake manager, Warner Bros Discovery.

With the win, Wonder Circuit, which Bauerly runs with UK-based partners Thom Chapman and Emma Evans, picks up a development deal with pitch sponsor Talpa Studios through which it will develop the project. Wonder Circuit will also receive £20,000 worth of marketing across C21’s digital, print and event products to support development and pre-sales promotion of the show.

Talpa’s Hoogendoorn said: “At Talpa Studios, we are always looking for strong new ideas and partners to collaborate with on potential hit formats. After a strong pitch session from the eight finalists, we saw the most potential in Fluent in 40. We look forward to working together on this format as a Talpa Creative Partnership and ultimately turning it into a major success.”!

The competition also saw pitches for Fortune$: The Secret Safes (Occam Productions, France), Gimme the Beat! (Ignacio Matas, Spain), Inside Joke (Watermelon, Portugal), Six Degrees of Connection (Occam Productions, France), The Freeze (James Moore, UK), The Get Together Plooops, US) and The Money Tree (Tom Day, UK).