Armoza secures international deals for Sex Tape

Several international broadcasters have picked up adaptations of the social experiment Sex Tape, Israeli producer-distributor, Armoza Formats announced on Thursday (July 15).

Discovery picked up two adaptations of the format in Benelux: the Belgium series from VIJF and the British series which aired on Channel 4. The British tapes were also picked up by Talpa in the Netherlands.

The German tapes from the series, which aired on TLC, have been commissioned by SBS in Australia and in Belgium.

Finished tapes of the series also aired in 2020 in Italy, Portugal, Germany and Estonia. The format is currently in discussion with several partners globally.

“Sex Tape has proven that a show that presents a common theme in new and unique ways is truly universal,” said Salome Peillon, head of sales at Armoza Formats in a news release.

“With its success traveling from country to country and the way that it can engage with foreign audiences despite the differences in language and culture, we look forward to seeing where the finished series, and format, travel next .”

Dating format wins Media Ranch Horsepower 3.0 incubation program

Montreal-based production and distribution company Media Ranch announced Alexandra Paquin as the winner of the third edition of its incubator program, Horsepower, on Wednesday (July 14).

The incubation process culminated on July 8 with the presentation of eight virtual pitches to a jury of 10 representatives. The winning format will be the subject of a co-development agreement and an international distribution agreement.

Paquin’s winning pitch is a dating show format for millennials, which she workshopped over a four-month period with industry mentors. Quebecor Content and TF1 will offer funding to further develop the format for broadcast. Media Ranch will manage production and distribution.

Paquin, a Canadian film student at Concordia University in Montreal, was one of eight finalists chosen to participate in Horsepower 3.0. The formats created by the other finalist may also be developed and distributed. Over 16 weeks, the finalists were introduced to the different types of TV formats and trends in TV markets around the world, while being taught how to write formats in concise and effective language.

Philip Kalin-Hajdu, Media Ranch’s head of content and storytelling, provided overall project supervision with input from the company’s Amsterdam-based SVP Tanja Van der Goes and Sophie Ferron, president and executive producer of Media Ranch.

STV Player strikes deal with Banijay Rights

STV Player announced its biggest content deal to date on Thursday (July 15) in a partnership with Banijay Rights to bring more than 1,200 hours of programming to the streaming service.

The content will debut on their platform over the next year and will comprise high-end drama and factual series.

The first batch of series will go live in August. STV Player is one of the fastest growing AVODs in the UK, reporting that streams grew 94% in the first half of 2021 and total online viewing increased 66% compared to the same time period the previous year.