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: Shaolin Heroes

  1. Banijay Unveils Compelling Slate Ahead of London TV Screenings

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    Media and entertainment powerhouse, Banijay, today announces a compelling offering for its dedicated London TV Screenings event – Banijay @ BAFTA.

    Hitting the 2024 line-up is the highly-anticipated high-end scripted series Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light; and premium documentary Front Row. Elsewhere, the powerhouse will also be celebrating travelling formats with adventure reality, The Summit; and spin-off, Deal or No Deal Island. Packed with distinct, high-quality programming across all genres, the group’s event will span three sessions on Wednesday 28 February.

    On the scripted front, Banijay’s premium offering includes UK dramas Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light for the BBC and Masterpiece PBS, based on the final novel of Hilary Mantel’s multi award-winning trilogy; The Hardacres for Channel 5; Steven Knight’s This Town for the BBC; Welsh drama The One That Got Away (Cleddau) for S4C; and Invisible Boys for Stan. Buyers can also expect a preview of eagerly-awaited second seasons of Marie Antoinette for Canal+ and the BBC, and Rogue Heroes for the BBC and MGM+.

    Supercharging its documentary offering, Front Row takes centre stage with Anatomy of a Murder and Four Kings for Prime Video.

    To complement the scripted and documentary offering, Banijay will showcase a blend of fresh and highly-entertaining formats including adrenaline-fuelled travelling success The Summit for Nine Network; new spin-off, Deal or No Deal Island created for NBC; adventure reality format and ratings winner Shaolin Heroes for TV2; recent Channel 4 factual reality VOD hit Banged Up; innovative game show Upside Down for RTL4 and The Fortune Hotel for ITV1 and ITVX. A light will also be shone on global superbrands and prized returning formats like Survivor, Big Brother, Star Academy, and reality formats Love Triangle and The Fifty.

    Cathy Payne, CEO at Banijay Rights says: “This year’s line-up for Banijay @ BAFTA truly illuminates the breadth of our catalogue and ability to showcase outstanding content across multiple genres. From high-end dramas to acclaimed factual series, we look forward to coming together later this month to celebrate great talent, captivating storytelling and stand-out IP. We really do have something for everyone…”

    James Townley, Chief Content Officer, Development and Lucas Green, Chief Content Officer, Operations at Banijay comment: “The London TV Screenings provides an incredible opportunity for Banijay to demonstrate its commitment to delivering exciting emerging IP as well as tried and tested formats and reboots, which continue to compel audiences globally. From Shaolin Heroes to The Summit, and iconic format Deal or No Deal, we are sure to enthral buyers seeking fresh, innovative, and proven formats.”

    For its scripted slate, Banijay Rights is highlighting Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, a Playground and Company Pictures co-production directed by Peter Kosminsky, and adapted for television by Peter Straughan, which follows Thomas Cromwell as he navigates the moral complexities of the Tudor court following the execution of Anne Boleyn. Another period drama from Playground in association with Screen Ireland, Red Berry Productions and Newgrange Pictures is new returnable six-part series –The Hardacres- based on CL Skelton’s novel series, The Hardacre Saga.

    Meanwhile, from Kudos and Nebulastar, and co-produced with Mercury Studios, in association with Kudos North, Stigma Films, and Nick Angel for the BBC, the much-anticipated This Town tells the story of an extended family and four young people who are drawn into the world of the ska movement and two-tone music.

    BlackLight Television (a Banijay UK company), in collaboration with Banijay Rights and Creative Wales for S4C, are delving into Welsh drama with The One That Got Away (Cleddau), which combines a gripping murder mystery with an electrifying love story.

    Crossing over to Australia, Invisible Boys from Feisty Dame Productions, Screenwest and Lotterywest, WA Regional Film Fund, Screen Australia, and Banijay Rights for Stan Originals, is a powerful drama created for television by director Nicholas Verso on the challenges faced by a group of gay teens in the remote coastal town of Geraldton.

    In factual, the feature-length premium documentary from Scenery and Pretty Matches, Front Row, Executive Produced by award-winning actor and producer Sarah Jessica Parker, and directed by Miriam Guttmann (Sundance Film Festival selection Seeds of Deceit), highlights the resilience of Ukrainian ballet dancers during wartime, where an unlikely friendship forms between a dancer and a front-line soldier.

    From Workerbee comes two gripping documentaries, Anatomy of a Murder, a feature length true-crime story centring around the daughter of an Iranian family, who has spent over thirty years and millions of her fortune to try and find her mother’s killer; and Four Kings for Prime Video, exploring the history of British boxing through four men coming from the same London neighbourhood who heralded a golden era and changed the way Britain viewed its black athletes.

    Meanwhile, on the reality competition front, The Summit, a 9Network and Endemol Shine Australia original series, produced by Endemol Shine Australia, continues to climb through the ranks with a second season in the works, and a first international adaptation for CBS by Endemol Shine North America with more to come soon.

    From Endemol Shine North America, Deal or No Deal Island completely reimagines the iconic game show as an epic adventure. This new spin-off series for NBC is set on the Banker’s private island as he searches for his ultimate opponent in a high stakes competition with over $200,000,000 up for grabs.

    From Metronome is Shaolin Heroes for TV2 Denmark, where celebrities undertake the ultimate test by embarking on a transformational journey alongside world-class Shaolin Masters.

    Joining Banijay’s factual offering is Banged Up, created by Shine TV for Channel 4. In this fact-ent format social experiment, which veers into the documentary space, six male celebrity inmates are incarcerated in a UK prison environment alongside their reformed criminal cellmates. The series explores the question, ‘does prison work’?

    From EndemolShine Nederland, Upside Down sees two celebrity teams undertake all kinds of topsy turvy challenges and Q&A games unlike anything they have seen before, because everything in this innovative format, is upside down.

    Highly-anticipated reality series The Fortune Hotel from Tuesday’s Child for ITV1 and ITVX invites viewers into a luxury Caribbean resort filled with glamour, opulence and deception. Contestants are paired up and compete to win a briefcase, one holding the ultimate cash prize and another an Early Checkout Card.

  2. Banijay Spotlights Adventure, Reality Competition and Factual in its Autumn Line-Up

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    Media and entertainment powerhouse Banijay today reveals its autumn slate of non-scripted formats set to be showcased at MIPCOM 2023. With an unprecedented line-up of six premium multi-genre titles, the content champion is set to enter the market with bang, as it unveils its upcoming hits to the world’s linear and streaming clients…

    Banijay’s Creative Networks is highlighting original blockbuster adventure reality series, The Summit, Rush and Shaolin Heroes, as well as reality competition formats Deal or No Deal Island and Buddy Games. In addition, the company is strengthening its factual reality offering in BANGED UP (w/t).

    James Townley, Chief Content Officer, Development at Banijay comments: “Last year alone, Banijay delivered 145 new format launches, and in 2023, our incredible creatives continue to raise the bar with new, high-quality, original ideas that are already capturing audiences around the globe. From The Summit to Buddy Games, we see fantastic potential in this slate as it truly captures audience desire for attention-grabbing, entertaining shows packed with adventure, that are unique and scalable. We look forward to finally showcasing these innovative titles to our clients worldwide at MIPCOM, leveraging the strength of our brilliant teams whilst on-the-ground in Cannes.”

    This year’s autumn slate offers exhilarating adventure reality series including two new formats from EndemolShine Australia with 9Network; The Summit and Rush. Set in New Zealand’s southern Alps, The Summit sees a group of strangers carrying an equal share of money, but to win the cash, they must reach the peak of a distant mountain in just two weeks. All that stands in the way, are a series of adrenaline-charged challenges and the unpredictable elements of human nature. Elsewhere, Rush is the new travel adventure series where twelve everyday people are dropped into the heart of some of the most pulsating cultural festivals, huge events, and exotic locations. They are without all their senses, and knowledge of their location, and must work together to complete the missions set by the host and reach the “Escape Zone”. The last team to get there is forced to eliminate one member of their team until only one person emerges to scoop a life-changing prize.

    From Metronome is Shaolin Heroes for TV 2 Denmark, where celebrities undertake the ultimate test by embarking on a transformational journey alongside world-class Shaolin Masters. By surrendering to the ancient and uninterrupted traditions of the legendary Shaolin Warrior Monks, the celebrities will find unexplored facets of themselves they never knew existed.

    Meanwhile, on the reality competition front, the iconic format Deal or No Deal is back, but like you have never seen it before… In a new spin-off created by Endemol Shine North America for NBC, Deal or No Deal Islandsees cases hidden all over an island with millions of dollars split between them, which contestants compete to retrieve, so they can play a game of Deal or No Deal against the Banker.  The banker’s challenges are pulse pounding and mind-bending designed to test every facet of the contestants, as they try to secure the most valuable cases to play Deal or No Deal. Mystery and millions await in this new format that transforms the iconic game show into an innovative social experiment.

    Airing on CBS is Buddy Games, which adapts the comedy directed by, and starring, Josh Duhamel, into areality competition format. Produced by Bunim/Murray Productions, “ride or die” friends get the chance to relive their glory days and compete in an assortment of absurd physical and mental challenges in the outdoors while bunking together in the same lake house.  To celebrate the launch of this brand-new title to the world, Josh himself is making his way to the French Riviera to join executive producer and President, Bunim/Murray Productions, Julie Pizzi down at MIPCOM.

    Showcasing the diversity of Baniijay’s slate is BANGED UP (w/t), created by Shine TV for Channel 4. In this fact-ent format, which veers into the documentary space, six male celebrity inmates will be incarcerated in a UK prison environment alongside their criminal cellmates. There they will interrogate the criminals on their prison experiences and crimes – all while experiencing the impact of the prison system themselves – for better or worse.

    Banijay will be holding exclusive invite-only masterclass sessions during MIPCOM, where they will lift the lid on the all the details of these next generation entertainment formats. The new offerings join renowned long-running superbrands like Big Brother, Survivor, and Deal or No Deal, which are all returning to the UK later this year, as well as travelling returners, Star Academy, Save the Date, Love Triangle, The Fifty, Popstars, andThe Block.

    News regarding Banijay’s scripted and documentary slates for MIPCOM to follow…

  3. Banijay Unveils Slate of Formats and Scripted Titles for Spring 2022

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    Banijay, the world’s largest independent home to the best creative talent and IP, today announces an impressive range of titles for its spring slate ahead of MIPTV.

     

    Starstruck, Limitless Win, The Courtship, Language of Love, Your Body Uncovered and Shaolin Heroes have been revealed as Banijay’s format highlights, alongside Banijay Rights’ premium scripted titles including Rogue Heroes, Then You Run and Signora Volpe.

     

    James Townley, Global Head of Content Development at Banijay says: “Banijay has a wonderfully diverse offering of formats and developing ambitious bold new shows from Starstruck to Shaolin Heroes is at the heart of our culture. We can capitalise on our expertise in the entertainment, reality, and adventure spaces, having produced hit formats such as Survivor, Wipeout and Big Brother, to create all-new, high-energy productions which appeal to global audiences.”

     

    Cathy Payne, CEO at Banijay Rights says: “With strong writing and globally relevant themes, we’re proud these premium scripted titles are leading our burgeoning catalogue. With continuingly strong demand from platforms and broadcasters for new shows, we expect the highlighted formats to have broad appeal both as finished tape sales and as travelling IP with third-party producers.”

     

    Entertainment is back in a big way…Starstruck, created by Remarkable Entertainment for ITV is the epitome of this. Teaming up as trios, the public transform into some of the world’s biggest music icons. And Limitless Win, created by Hello Dolly and co-produced with Mitre Studios, which Banijay have the international format rights to, was ITV’s biggest brand-new entertainment series launch since January 2020. Already commissioned for a second series in the UK, it is a prime-time quiz show with a unique USP – the world’s first-ever limitless jackpot!

     

    The Courtship is a bold new relationship show from Endemol Shine North America, in association with Shine TV. A modern woman tired of dating in the 21st century is transported to the Regency-era. Will the ultimate romantic experience see the leading lady swept off her feet? Joining Banijay’s dating offering, is Language of Love from Banijay Iberia’s Zeppelin and UK indie 2LE. The series explores whether love can blossom even with a language barrier to overcome as six British singletons and six Spaniards are brought together.

     

    Combining reality with adventure is Metronome’s epic new show, Shaolin Heroes. Celebrities will embark on a life-changing journey to master the ancient martial art of the Shaolin Warrior Monks. Elsewhere, Your Body Uncovered is a ground-breaking new concept that uses cutting-edge technology to better understand medical conditions. The format, created by Remarkable Factual, allows the viewers to witness this immersive journey every step of the way.

     

    On the scripted front, Banijay is highlighting Rogue Heroes. This new six-part series, written by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders) and produced by Kudos and Nebulastar, is a dramatized account of how the world’s greatest Special Forces unit, the SAS, was formed under extraordinary circumstances in the darkest days of World War Two.

     

    From Kudos, in association with MadeFor and Sky Studios, Then You Run is a bold new Sky Original drama based on Zoran Drvenkar’s novel, ‘You’. The series follows a close-knit group of friends whose dreams of the perfect holiday spiral into a dark and perilous adventure.

     

    In Signora Volpe, which will be distributed internationally by Banijay Rights, Emilia Fox (Silent Witness) will star as a British spy who finds herself involved in a murder investigation in Italy. Motivated by her passion for justice with an instinct for adventure, this drama will unearth the dark secrets of Umbria. Written by Rachel Cuperman and Sally Griffiths (Midsomer Murders) it will be produced by ITV Studios-backed production company Route 24.

     

    Joining Banijay’s impressive catalogue of over 120,000 hours, the new titles will sit alongside super brands such as MasterChef, Big Brother, Survivor, LEGO® Masters and scripted hits, Screw, Peaky Blinders and Penoza amongst others.