Banijay Group is the world's largest independent content creation Group for television and multimedia platforms. Banijay Group is present in 16 territories.
Banijay Group is the world's largest independent content creation Group for television and multimedia platforms. Banijay Group is present in 16 territories.

Tag Archive: NENT

  1. Viaplay Serves Up Celebrity MasterChef as Next Dutch Local Production

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    Viaplay will bring the world-famous reality format Celebrity MasterChef to the Netherlands for the first time starting this autumn. The 12-episode first season, produced by SimpelZodiak, a Banijay Benelux company, sees 10 Dutch personalities taking on a series of culinary challenges in front of an all-star jury and competing to become the next Celebrity MasterChef. Viaplay launched in the Netherlands on 1 March with a unique combination of original productions, international films and series, kids content and premium live sports.

     

    The Celebrity MasterChef jury consists of Soenil ‘The Spicy Chef’ Bahadoer, founder of the renowned De Lindehof restaurant, which received its second Michelin star in 2014; Angélique Schmeinck, one of only two female Dutch Mastercooks (the most country’s most prestigious culinary title) and head chef for 12 years at the Michelin-starred De Kromme Dissel; and Joël Broekaert, a well-known food critic, columnist and TV host.

     

    The show’s 10 celebrity contestants will be announced shortly.

     

    Filippa Wallestam, NENT Group Chief Content Officer: “High-quality local productions are a key focus for Viaplay in all our markets. Viewers everywhere have been enjoying the famous MasterChef format and its spin-offs for over 30 years, and Celebrity Masterchef will be an ideal addition to Viaplay’s fantastic menu in the Netherlands.”

     

    Celebrity MasterChef is produced by SimpelZodiak (Expeditie Robinson; Hunted; Ik Vertrek) and by Martijn de Bruin for Viaplay.

     

    Created by Franc Roddam, MasterChef has been named ‘Most Successful Cookery Television Format’ by Guinness World Records and the most successful format ever by The WIT. First aired in the UK in 1990, 49 series were produced in 33 territories in 2021. The MasterChef format and finished programmes are represented internationally by Banijay. Viaplay has produced MasterChef in Denmark since 2011.

     

    In January, Viaplay announced Dragons’ Den, the globally successful show that gives entrepreneurs an opportunity to pitch their business ideas to a panel of investors, as its first original production in the Netherlands.

  2. Banijay Rights Secures Nordic Scripted Deal With NENT Group’s Viaplay in US

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    Banijay Rights today announces it has signed a comprehensive package deal for more than a dozen of its premium scripted titles with Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT Group), ahead of the launch of its Viaplay streaming service in the US in late 2021.

    The agreement will give Viaplay subscribers in the US access to more than 250 hours of Banijay Rights’ critically acclaimed Nordic drama titles, including Norwegian culture-clash comedy Countrymen, which won the High School Best Series Prize and Special Interpretation Award for Cast at Canneseries last month.

    The extensive scripted deal was brokered by Matt Creasey for Banijay Rights.

    Matt Creasey, EVP Sales, Acquisitions and Coproductions – World (excluding EMEA), Banijay Rights, said: “Our catalogue contains a stunning range of premium stand-out Nordic titles including Norwegian sensation Countrymen and Swedish drama A Class Apart, and we are thrilled to be working with NENT Group to ensure this package deal will become a cornerstone of Viaplay’s launch in the US.”

    Countrymen (8 x 60’) sees four men with dubious plans move to a farm in the rural Norwegian countryside where, more or less against their will, they end up as the founders of Norway’s first halal cheesemaking business. Countrymen is a production from Banijay Norwegian label Rubicon for public broadcaster NRK in coproduction with Arte France.

    The deal also includes A Class Apart (8 x 60’), a drama series from Banijay Swedish label Jarowskij. The series is set at Sweden’s top ranked boarding high school which is home to a secret society for the most affluent students, the Zebra Club. On the night of the new semester, the selected few indulge in the hazing of two new members. The following morning, one of them is found dead.

    Both A Class Apart and Countrymen will be premieres in the North American market.

     Among the other titles from the Banijay Rights catalogue included in the agreement with NENT Group are two seasons of Jarowskij thriller Black Lake (16 x 60’) and Dystopia (8 x 60’); seasons one to five of crime drama Gåsmamman (42 x 60’), from Banijay Nordics; the first two seasons of Swedish science fiction drama Real Humans (20 x 60’), from Matador Film and SVT; seasons one to six of Jarowskij TV4 series Solsidan (60 x 30’); The Councilman (10 x 30’) from Rubicon; and seasons one to nine of The Sandhamn Murders (15 x 60’ and 4 x 120’), produced by Filmlance International in coproduction  with TV4, C More, ZDF, ZDF Enterprises with Endemol Shine International, TV2 Norge, DR and YLE.

    In the US, Viaplay will also show the first two seasons of Swedish crime sensation Wallander (26 x 90’) from Banijay label Yellow Bird; and seasons one and two of Wallander UK (6 x 90’), which Yellow Bird coproduced along with Left Bank Pictures, TKBC with Masterpiece, TV4, Film i Skåne and the Copenhagen Film Fund. High-end crime drama Wisting (10 x 60’), from Cinenord and Good Company Films in coproduction with Viaplay, Degeto Film, TV3 Norway and Ripple World Pictures, also forms part of the NENT Group deal, as well as the first two seasons of The Third Eye (20 x 60’), from Banijay Nordics, and Yellow Bird’s The Truth Will Out (8 x 60’).