Six finalists face-off in best reality category

Formats from the UK account for four of the six finalists in the best reality category of the International Format Awards 2020, which is organised by C21 in association with FRAPA, EMC and MipFormats.

The International Format Awards will be presented online this year with a digital event initiative that runs between June 10 and 25, sponsored by All3Media Internationa, ITV Studios and Sony Pictures Television. The finalists in each category of the awards will be revealed daily until June 23, with the event taking place ‘as live’ online on June 25 at 7am PST/10am EST/3pm BST/4pm CET.

Unlike competition reality formats, reality TV doesn’t require any element of competition. Shows entered in this category may be documentary-style, following central characters in their assumed ‘real’ lives. The category also includes structured reality, where the circumstances surrounding the participants are manipulated for the purpose of the show. This category may also include self-improvement/makeover shows, hidden-camera shows, survival or social experiments.

The UK has traditionally been a powerhouse in the reality genre, and that’s no different this year, with the country accounting for no less than four of the six finalists in this category. The other two hail from the Netherlands and Ireland.

From the Netherlands comes The Key, a show in which five homeless people are given the key to an apartment to see if they can turn their lives around. It is produced by Kale Jakhals Producties, the Amsterdam-based prodco of TV host and producer Beau van Erven Dorens, for RTL4, and is being shopped internationally by Kale Jakhals Producties and its agency CAA.

Ireland is represented in this category with eco-challenge format What Planet Are You On?. The RTÉ1 show sees three homes monitored closely to measure their impact on the environment in terms of water, waste, diet and energy consumption. The show was developed and produced by Vision Independent Productions and is being distributed internationally by Oble.

Four formats from the UK complete the list of finalists for this category this year, two apiece from ITV and Channel 4.

From Hungry Bear Media for ITV comes Bradley Walsh & Son: Breaking Dad, in which the titular comedian and his son drive around the US in a Breaking Bad-style RV, undertaking various challenges. The format is distributed by Hat Trick International.

Singletown, meanwhile, is a stripped reality show that sees couples putting their relationship on hiatus and each partner given a chance to experience single life over one summer. They then have to decide whether they want to return to the relationship they put on ice. The show is produced by Keshet Productions UK for ITV2 and is being distributed by Keshet International.

Flirty Dancing is a dating show that centres on the role dancing used to play in courtship. It is produced for C4 by Second Star Productions, part of Objective Media Group, and is distributed by parent company All3Media International.

Last but not least comes When I Grow Up, a show in which kids take over the running of well-known companies, including a celebrity magazine, an estate agent and a chocolate factory. Optomen produces the show for C4 and parent company All3Media International distributes.