Studio Lambert plans ‘exciting steps’ in scripted/unscripted crossover adaptations

The US version of The Traitors

MIPCOM: Studio Lambert is planning more unscripted adaptations of scripted series, following the success of Squid Game: The Challenge, and also looking to adapt unscripted shows, such as The Traitors, into scripted versions.

Stephen Lambert

Speaking to C21 in Cannes, Studio Lambert’s founder and CEO Stephen Lambert said he is “actively looking for big, successful scripted IP” that could be adapted into unscripted series.

“In terms of where our development effort is at the moment, one important part of it is identifying big scripted IP that we think we could turn into unscripted and talking to the relevant buyers about it,” he said, adding that “there are some things that are likely to happen in the next year that will be exciting steps in that direction.”

Lambert is also looking into doing the reverse and turning hit unscripted IPs into scripted adaptations.

“Equally, if you’ve got something like The Traitors, we’re interested in how we might turn that into a scripted show in some form or another. Once you’ve got something that everybody knows about and loves, you have to keep thinking about what ways you could take it forward,” he said.

All3Media’s Studio Lambert has an array of unscripted hits under its belt, with formats including Gogglebox, Race Across the World and The Circle complementing the likes of Squid Game: The Challenge and The Traitors. But it has also had success in the scripted space with limited dramas like Three Girls (BBC), which won five Baftas, and its first returning series Boarders, also for the BBC, which was commissioned for a third season earlier this year.

In July, the prodco signed a first-look deal with Boarders creator Daniel Lawrence Taylor, which represents an intention to expand further into the scripted space, particularly with returning series, Lambert told C21.

“We’ve got several returning scripted shows that are very close to being greenlit, but until they’re greenlit, they are not greenlit, so we will see what happens. But we would certainly love to have more scripted shows and we’re well placed to do so in the next year or two,” he said.

The exec added that he would like to make more comedy-dramas like Boarders but is also keen on producing returning thrillers. “We’re concentrating on contemporary because the marketplace seems to be more interested in contemporary than period,” he said.