Banijay Entertainment Introduces Creators Lab to MIPCOM with YouTube
Comments Off on Banijay Entertainment Introduces Creators Lab to MIPCOM with YouTubeEurope’s largest studio, and the world’s leading video-sharing platform, have combined forces to unveil an all-new industry-first initiative – Banijay Entertainment Creators Lab… a Partnership with YouTube.
Launched first in France, the initiative is focused on bridging the gap between creators and creatives and has invited the country’s sprawling community of YouTubers to reinvent a host of Banijay France’s legacy formats for the platform’s digital-native audience. Uniting television craft with the creator creativity, it serves as a true creative R&D sandbox — a space to explore new approaches to storytelling.
While thousands of the nation’s YouTubers were invited to apply to the initiative, only five talents will be entrusted to take on five of Banijay France’s iconic entertainment formats. Each benefits from up to €50,000 to support their development and the production of a pilot.
Throughout the process, Banijay France’s creatives and producers are on-hand to offer creative mentorship, support and technical advice, alongside YouTube’s France-based team, who provide strategic advice to maximise audience engagement in these new digital-first offerings.
Once finalised, the pilots will be uploaded to the respective creators’ channels, as well as to Banijay Entertainment’s all-new dedicated channel – Banijay Creators Studio.
The formats selected for the lab by Banijay France’s were as follows – Minute to Win It (Banijay Production Media), 1ère compagnie (Endemol France), Got to Dance (DMLS TV), Dilemme (BProd), and La tête et les jambes (ALP). Deliberately diverse, and previous hits across the nation, the offering was intended to ensure maximum appeal across YouTube’s French creator landscape to land the best creative matches, creation outcomes, and long-term relationships between the parties.
Justine Ryst, Managing Director YouTube, comments: “This partnership illustrates the synergies between YouTube and leading producers like Banijay France. Our role is to welcome all creators and foster dialogue that sparks new opportunities. In uniting expertise and leveraging YouTube’s creative community, the company is opening new pathways for shared growth — an approach that is bold, innovative, and perfectly aligned with today’s viewing habits. Our thanks to Banijay Entertainment’s teams for their trust and commitment.”
Alexia Laroche Joubert, CEO, Banijay France, comments: “I am proud Banijay France is the first to participate in this innovative partnership with YouTube. Thanks to this game-chaging initiative, creators will have the opportunity to reinvent our emblematic brands for their own digital universes. For several years, I have been looking for a concrete and relevant way to unite our worlds, and through this venture, we can do just that. Embodying our desire to be at the forefront of innovation, we are opening our brands to new territories of expression and creation, delivering a more open, creative ecosystem.”
Damein Viel, Chief Digital & Innovation Officer at Banijay Entertainment comments: “. A pioneering, entrepreneurial DNA has always sat at the core of this business – perhaps the biggest similarity between our creatives, and YouTube’s creators. But despite our complementary attitudes, we recognised the need to bridge the gap between us more effectively in order to explore new opportunities and alternative economic models for content.
As a platform agnostic group, we have the freedom to partner with anyone, and via Creators Lab… a Partnership with YouTube, we will, in an industry-first, collaborate to connect new audiences with our world-renowned IP. Other major territories will be announced soon.”
Creators Lab… a Partnership with YouTube welcomed creators who have published at least two videos to 100k views. Successful entrants have creatively built a loyal fanbase given their strong sense of voice, ability to generate views, activate their communities, and turn ideas into shareable content. These self-taught talents they will exude creative, instinctive excellence and be on the verge of breaking out…
Through this new form of collaboration, the creators will have the opportunity to utilise the notoriety and heritage of Banijay Entertainment’s formats to “break-out” further without losing their identities in keeping with the content powerhouse’s ethos of autonomy and creative freedom. Serving as a first step to long-term partnerships, this is an opportunity for creators to elevate their expertise in ideation and professional production, be at the forefront of reinvention, and carve new opportunities in the broader creative landscape. Further territories are expected be onboarded in the coming months.