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C21 DIGITAL SCREENINGS

KO Distribution

Programming Profile

Knock-out slate from KOTV

12-06-2020

Quebec production house KOTV is looking to the global marketplace with a slate of seven shows that have already begun their international roll-outs and are showcased in its C21 Digital Screenings this week.

 

Montreal-based prodco KOTV is, according to president Louis Morissette, “either the biggest of the small companies or the smallest of the big companies” in Quebec’s burgeoning production sector. It’s an enviable position that gives it the best of both worlds, he adds.

 

The nine-year-old company is the result of producer, writer, actor and comedian Morissette’s “desire to have more control over the whole project from the writing to the editing,” he says, so he founded the company with Louis-Philippe Drolet and Alain Chicoine in 2011.

 

Morissette
Louis Morissette, KOTV

Fast forward to 2020 and the company is now looking beyond its Quebec homeland and has begun exploiting its programming and formats on the international marketplace, alongside long-standing distribution partner Aroma TV of Germany.

 

Plan B
Plan B

KOTV’s playlist on C21’s Digital Screenings encompasses drama, comedy and talkshow. On the drama front, the company is offering two seasons of Plan B, a series following a company that offers people the chance to go back in time to correct mistakes in their lives. The 12×60’ show debuted on Corus-owned Séries+ in 2017 but moved to ICI Radio-Canada and its OTT service Tou.tv for its second run.

 

“We were meant to be shooting the third season right now but we can’t because of the coronavirus,” says Morissette. He adds that local adaptations in English-Canada (CBC) and France (TF1) restart production in September, while planned Belgian and German adaptations have also been put on hold for the same reasons.

 

How to Survive My Family
How to Survive My Family

Dramatic comedy is also on the playlist with ICI Radio-Canada series Simone (39×30’), which has aired for three seasons so far. The show would work internationally, says Morissette, as “it explores the universal challenges that women face in the modern world.”

 

How to Survive My Family (101×30’) is a half-hour comedy following the life of a 13-year-old boy trying to survive his multi-generational family. TFO, Tele-Quebec and TV5 Monde have already aired it but Morissette has high hopes the readymade show, either dubbed or subtitled, will travel to networks around the world looking for original content. The domestic success of the show has led to spin-off Clovis (aka How to Survive Senior Year, 12×30’), which aired on Tele-Quebec.

 

Project 2000
Project 2000

More comedy comes in the form of sketch series 14 Thousand Million Things to Know (70×15’), which aired over two seasons on ICI Radio-Canada and Tou.tv. The show features four comedians compiling a list of useful (and useless) information, which is presented in internet-friendly short segments.

 

Project 2000, meanwhile, is a 9×15’ comedy for ICI Radio-Canada and Tou.tv that centres on the adventures of a group of high-school friends living through the Millennium Bug. “We’re working on season 2 now, which is called Project 2005,” says Morissette.

 

Rounding out the playlist is talkshow Verdict, which invites two celebrities to discover, on air, the results of a survey that addresses how the public perceives them. Some 26 hours have aired on ICI Radio-Canada and a local adaptation has aired in Lebanon, while a pilot has been produced in Germany and format options have been signed in Australia, Serbia and Russia.

 

Verdict
Verdict

While the company’s shows have been present at markets like Mipcom for a while now, KOTV also distributes programmes from other Quebec producers like Blachfilms (422 – format only) and Lustitia Productions (Extreme Expedition, Ultimate Rescue).

 

However, programmes like Plan B and Verdict have marked something of “a turning point for KOTV in the international market,” says Morissette. “They bring us to the same level as other companies and the maturity of KOTV in Quebec now means we’re doing bigger things with more budget. It gives me the impression that in the near future we’ll be able to expand more abroad.”



More programming profiles

  • 16-11-2022

    Mia Desroches of Montreal-based KOTV outlines her plans for new division KO Distribution and how the international market for Québécois content is changing.

     

    Montreal’s KOTV made a significant statement of intent in May as it officially launched its distribution arm, KO Distribution, and appointed former CBC/Radio-Canada exec Mia Desroches to lead it.

     

    In the newly created role of VP of international distribution, Desroches is responsible both for pre-selling KOTV’s slate of shows and selling finished tape.

     

    The former is a key area of focus for the producer-distributor as it looks to grow its international business and lock in additional financing for its projects, which span scripted, sketch comedy, unscripted and children’s content.
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