Mediawan Rights bolsters its unscripted division with a new senior recruit and a list of international formats (EXCLUSIVE)

Mediawan Rights has expanded its unscripted division with the appointment of former Shine France chief executive Jeremy Klif, and is open to formats from third-party producers.

Klif has been appointed deputy director of international sales for the unscripted unit launched by Mediawan management Rights director Valérie Vleeschhouwer, in April. Klif began his career in the United States at Mark Burnett Productions, then worked as a sales and acquisitions manager for Shine France ("The Voice", "MasterChef") upon his return to Paris. He then launched in 2017 Borderline Media, a production and distribution banner specializing in formats. At Mediawan Rights, Klif will work alongside Estelle Bodén, co-founder of Sweden's Elk Entertainment, who serves as the division's distribution director. Like Klif, Bodén has a proven track record as an entrepreneur and has also worked for independents and large groups such as Strix Television.

With Bodén and Klif on board, Mediawan Rights is now set to distribute "ambitious and innovative formats from third-party producers, as well as formats produced by in-house labels,” explains Vleeschhouwer.

As Mipcom approached, the unit launched its first factual acquisition from a third party producer, 'Slice of Life' (SLOL AB), a Swedish show (pictured) created by Björn Ulvaeus, one of the members of iconic pop group ABBA. The first two seasons of "Slice of Life" have achieved good results in Sweden on TV4 and a third order is in production. Klif described "Slice of Life" as "time travel through food". Each episode sees a famous character tasting food blindfolded, bringing back memories illustrated by archives, photos and songs.

"This shows how often your greatest memories in life are tied to special dishes" , says Klif, who points out that a number of formats now have celebrities attached, giving them a marketing hook.

Mediawan Rights also offers a range of 10 in-house produced formats, including "Time Hotel". Produced by Ardimages and 3e Œil Productions, the format sees acclaimed French television journalist Thierry Ardisson interview iconic deceased characters, including Princess Diana and French actor Jean Gabin, through an artificial intelligence-generated tool called FaceRetriever. Each interview is based on archives and investigative work.

The format rights for "Time Hotel" have been sold to BlueEngine for the Middle East. Agreements for the United States and Canada are also being negotiated. "Time Hotel" has also been optioned by Mediawan brands in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Finland and Germany.

Besides "Time Hotel" and "Slice of Life", the other highlights of the unscripted list from Mediawan Group for Mipcom includes "Kids Buy a House", from Skyhigh TV; and “Last Family Standing,” now in its second season, from Skyhigh TV. "It is telling that it is renewed for a second season, because very often the formats do not exceed one order", explains Bodén. "Last Family Standing" is a reality competition series in which four families separately complete a wilderness survival challenge.

"Kids Buy a House" is a fact-based entertainment show in which children search for the homes of their dreams for their whole family. The executive said remake options for "Kids Buy a House" have already been sold to Germany and Belgium.

Other hit shows on Mediawan Rights' list include "Euforia", a contest format of Spanish singing that was created to find the best voices in Catalonia - solo voices and backup voices.

"Euforia" broke a 20-year-old ratings record on Spanish broadcaster TV3 and landed 25.8% market share. A spin-off of "Euforia" is currently in production at Veranda. Mediawan Rights' Mipcom list also includes "Stars at Home", produced by Reservoir Prod.

"We are seeing more and more interest in formats; there is a big demand, not only...