ASIA TV FORUM
Bomanbridge renews ‘Chef In Your Ear’ rights with Korea’s CJ E&M
MUMBAI: Singapore-based production & distribution agency, Bomanbridge Media has renewed the rights to UK & Canada format Chef in Your Ear for 2016 to Korean powerhouse CJ E&M.
CJ E&M is currently airing the first season, locally-titled Avatar Chef in Korea.
The format was created by Justin Scroggie and developed by Ricardo Larrivée, Michel Rodrigue, Lee Herberman and Henry Less. In Canada, the original English version is produced by HLP + Partners and the French version is produced by 350 Productions, setting record audiences on The Food Network.
Chef In Your Ear is a new cooking competition format in which two professional chefs aim to deliver a restaurant quality dish – by remote control. All the cooking is done by two novice cooks, many of whom claim to be kitchen disasters, each wearing an ear-piece. They take instruction from a celebrity chef whom they have been paired with, and who is locked away in a booth, unable to smell or taste the food.
“Bomanbridge is thrilled to represent the exciting and entertaining format, Chef In Your Ear, for Asia and are so pleased to renew our format sale to our trusted partners, CJ E&M, for a second season. We are known in Asia for licensing great formats which give channels high performance ratings. CJ E&M will enjoy great viewership with this show,” said Bomanbridge Media South Korea director of distribution and business development Gyeong Min Moon.
CJ E&M international sales & acquisition head Jang-Ho-Seo added, “CJ E&M is delighted to renew Chef In Your Ear for a second season. The show is proving very popular to our audiences in the early stages of season one. CJ E&M has been building its reputation for producing and creating the best Formats in the world and CIYE is a great addition to our portfolio.”
“The Format People are pleased that Bomanbridge Media, one of Asia’s top distributors, has taken Chef In Your Ear into Asia, first to Mongolia and now expanding in Korea with CJ E &M. The format has proven highly successful on Food Network Canada, Justin & I are confident that the Asian versions will be just as successful,” said The Format People CEO Michel Rodrigue.
MUMBAI: The Asia TV Forum (ATF) is drawing to a close amid much fanfare. The event saw several activities such as an exciting round of on-stage pitches wherein producers from all over Asia presented their ideas. The winners of the inaugural Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) Animation Pitch were also anounced and the unveiling of the second ATF Formats Pitch took place on 30 November 2017.
Reed Exhibitions and global partner Green Gold Animation announced studio2 Animation Lab as the winner of the first-ever ATF Animation Pitch. The animation concept, titled “The Western Journey of Pigsy”, wowed the on-stage jury for its creativity and strong appeal to children. The line-up of judges, which comprises some of the biggest names in kids’ animation and entertainment, also saw strong potential for the concept to be exported and extended to a series.
Targeted at creators and producers of innovative concepts for new and original kids’ animation, ATF Animation Pitch is aimed at facilitating the exchange of ideas and talent between leading international television, distribution and Asian-based producers. In total, 61 entries were received from all over Asia.
“I am thrilled and excited to be named the winner of the inaugural ATF Animation Pitch. We had a unique concept and we felt that it allows viewers to experience the journey in the west story in a contemporary way. Moving forward, we will work towards developing the script for the concept,” said studio2 Animation Lab director Chiu Li Wei.
Chiu Li Wei and Grace Chuang from studio2 Animation Lab received a $19,000 prize from GreenGold Animation. This includes a $2,500 cash award, and a consultancy package worth $16,500 that is tailor-made for them to further develop the winning animation, making it ready to pitch to broadcasters.
After a closely contested fight between five finalists, leading independent distributor all3media International and ATF announced that Gamaliel Paulus (Gammy) from Indonesia, came out on top, winning $3,500 in cash and a $16,500 (both Singapore dollars) consultancy package tailor-made to develop the format, making it pitch-ready for broadcasters.
ATF Formats Pitch is the premier Asian pitching competition designed to discover innovative concepts for new and original non-scripted entertainment formats from the pan-Asian region. This platform showcases the best of Asia, and exposes ideas for export and development within and even outside of the region.
In its second year, the competition received more than 50 entries from 13 countries and only five finalists were selected to pitch their concept during the live on-stage judging session which concluded earlier today. Formats were evaluated based on creativity, originality and capacity to return for multiple series. The winning concept must also have the capability to resonate with audiences globally.
Portraying all these qualities was the winning format, Ranking. It is a game show where participants have to guess the correct order of a ranking in return for prizes. Besides the excitement value that comes with game shows, it also serves to dish fun facts and information to viewers. The judges loved the simplicity of the idea and felt that it had great potential for further development.
“As many people are familiar with rankings, I believe my format will appeal to any country. Also, I have not seen it in the form of a game show concept. As a producer myself, I understood that for a format to do well, it has to be simple. I am very thankful for the win, I didn’t expect it at all,” said Gamaliel Paulus (Gammy).
To further develop the format and make it ready for pitching to broadcasters, Gamaliel Paulus (Gammy) will work closely with all3media International. This follows the success of “Hit It” from XTREME Media, which won at the inaugural ATF Formats Pitch last year, and has received its first local commission for a debut in February 2018.
Aside from the ATF Animation Pitch and ATF Formats Pitch, ATF and ScreenSingapore is also home to another pitching competition, the Southeast Asian Film Financing Project Market.
