China Formats Sessions Focus on Finding New Hit Show Formats, Localizing Global Programs
The Shanghai International Film and TV Festival opened on June 5 with China Formats, a marathon two-day forum co-hosted by Shanghai International Film and TV Festival and 3C Media.
Fifty keynote speakers from 16 countries presented 28 discussion sessions on topics ranging from content creativity, global format localization, strategy and operations to new media trends and investment. Now in its second year, China Formats is focused on discovering the next original Chinese format that has huge potential for the international market.
The panels discussed the possibilities of exporting the formats of popular Chinese reality TV shows for local adaptation in more overseas countries. They nominated as ideal candidates big hit shows like “Chinese Poetry Conference” and “Challenging the Impossible.”“Chinese Poetry Conference” is rooted in Chinese traditional culture and has been watched by 486 million first-time viewers in 2016.
Liang Hong, the program\'s executive producer and deputy supervisor of CCTV10, explained the first season of this original and independently-developed show took 608 days to make. He said more original content and elements will be included in the second season.“This show has great potential to enter the international market, and it can \'travel\' further when Chinese poetry is replaced with Western poetry to adapt to other markets,” said Hwang Jin Woo, the head of format and content development at CJ E&M.
In addition to focusing on discovering, encouraging and promoting originality in the Chinese TV industry, the China Formats forums also exchanged ideas on localizing global programs in China. In global terms, the sale of scripted formats has increased by 70 percent, with the United States being the biggest buyer. Comedy is the bestselling of all scripted formats and makes up 34 percent of the total.
The editorial director of Zhejiang Satellite TV, Tao Yan, said comedy is also easier to be adapted and produced compared to reality TV shows which can be very specific about all the required details. It was even more challenging, he said, for television dramas. Dori Media Group televises a series of successful formats, including the international hit “Lalola,” an Argentine romantic comedy that was remade in 12 other countries.“The principle is that we produce and think globally. Our comedies are made to ensure they have elements that can travel outside Argentina,” said Pauline Ick, Dori Media\'s vice-president of sales for Asia.
The CEO of Nordic World, Espen S. Huseby, believed that, in general, scripted formats can come from everywhere.“It’s the way the story is told and how adaptable it is, because you have different local cultures, religions and politics,” he said. Syndicate Croton Huace director, Niu Jixin, said that introducing scripted formats is not only about remaking the shows, but also learning about the production experiences generated in the making of different versions in more countries.
The China Formats panels also exchanged ideas on topics like VR technology in TV shows, innovation strategy for long-running entertainment hits, and what formats are cross-platform hunting. The two-day event also included a producers\' workshop and business case study sessions.