Banijay International Closes High Volume CEE Deals

Following NATPE Budapest 2012, Banijay International has licensed three of its original formats in CEE territories.
Reality dating show Origins of Love has sold to leading broadcaster 1+1 Ukraine where 12 x 60’ episodes will be produced for local audiences. The format which was created by Banijay Group company Nordisk FilmTV will be adapted for the Ukraine seeing the lead cast member (likely to be an American of Ukrainian descent), looking for love among a group of singles from their home country.
Hotly tipped for international domination, new game show Trust has sold to ATV in Turkey. A test of wits and ethics, Trust is the game show in which two strangers can work together to win a sum of money to share – that is, if they decide to play fair…Due to launch in September this year, an initial 12 x 60’ episodes will be produced .
BTV Lithuania has bought into long-running German scripted comedy format, Ladykracher, created by Banijay Group company Brainpool. The deal will see BTV’s in-house team producing 15 x 30’ episodes of the witty and punchy comedy show for local audiences.
Karoline Spodsberg, Managing Director, said: “CEE continues to be a burgeoning marketplace for new ideas and we love doing business with all of our clients there. Although the region is large, one has to account for the wide ranging cultural differences of each nation and luckily our catalogue caters for all of their eclectic tastes very well.”
Sometimes to find love, you have to go back to your roots. Origins of Love takes note of the fact that all over the world, guys and girls raised in immigrant communities are struggling to find that special someone who understands them deep down. This heart-warming new reality format selects four singles, raised with one foot in each culture, who want to turn to the old country to find the right partner. Interested singles from their family’s homeland are invited to write letters to the descendants, who must whittle their huge pile down to just eight suitors! These eight will travel to the new world where they will vie for the descendants’ affections while also grappling with a new way of life in a foreign country. The descendant will send suitors home one by one until finally just one is left. But once that decision is made another confronts them: Will they spend the future in the old country or the new world?
Trust asks what is the price of your betrayal? Two strangers face each other in a studio quiz. They must work together to determine the answers to a series of questions, with every correct response adding money to their collective pot. If they can work as a team for fifteen rounds without giving more than two wrong answers, they will evenly split the cash they have won. But there’s a twist: At random moments, each will have the opportunity to betray their partner, take the cash they’ve won to that point and leave the other player with nothing – if their partner doesn’t do the same to them first. The longer they stay in the game, the more money they could win. But the higher the total climbs, the more likely their partner will double-cross them, and the more they have to lose.
It’s a weird, wacky, woman’s world. In Ladykracher, a female comedian puts a unique spin on everyday urban life in this hilarious sketch comedy format! In sketches of between 30 seconds and three minutes, the comedienne embodies a range of characters: young women, old women, wives, mothers, professionals, students, trophy wives – to put a sharp, satirical and side-splitting spin on modern living. Recurring characters and high quality comedic writing have kept audiences coming back for seven straight seasons in Ladykracher’s native Germany. With live studio stand-up opening and closing each episode and more than 1300 individual sketches available, Ladykracher: She’s a Crack Up! is an exciting new entry to the world of formatted TV comedy.
www.banijayinternational.com