RT TV Hosts a Format Farm Event

RT TV Hosts a Format Farm Event 18 January 2013: This week RT Television hosted an exciting and innovative Format Farm* event which brought together Irish TV production companies and international distributors

With almost 200 people attending; this meeting gave producers an opportunity to make connections with worldwide distributors who could potentially invest in a new pilot show. Not only would this pilot be broadcast on RT One or RT Two, but it would also have the opportunity to be optioned by international broadcasters. The day demonstrated how serious RT is in its commitment to the support of establishing Ireland as a global player in format generation and distribution.

Tonyia Dowling, Assistant Commissioning Editor for RT Two said: Television is a multimillion euro, global industry and RT wanted to showcase the wealth of creative, innovative and ambitious Irish producers who have the capacity to act locally but think globally with their original format ideas. RT and Format Farm are a gateway for international distributors to make connections with more and more Irish producers who could be sitting on the next global television hit like MasterChef , The Voice or Come Dine with Me.

This event allowed producers to become more acquainted with distributors and in the coming weeks producers will pitch their format ideas to distributors with the goal of securing a letter of commitment that the distributor will co-finance, with RT , the production of a one off broadcast pilot of the format.

Distributors who co-financed some of the pilots from 2012 were very pleased with the first round of Format Farm.

Eric Kafoe, Director of Acquisitions, Sony Pictures Television said: The premise of handing a company's reigns over to the workers offers some brilliant personal stories, countless scenarios and is highly adaptable in any territory so we can't wait to take it to market. The Takeover's initial broadcast on RT has generated an impressive momentum that we are now set to continue internationally.

Vasha Wallace, SVP Global Acquisitions and Development, FremantleMedia, said:

"Were really pleased to be working with Irelands top public broadcaster RT on the Format Farm initiative, which will bring top Irish formats to the world. We see huge potential with Six In The City, its a fun, fresh idea that we think audiences worldwide will really respond to."

Andrew Zein (SVP Creative, Format Development and Sales, WBITVP) said:

The RT Format Farm is a brilliant initiative for bringing the best original Irish TV entertainment formats, that have the potential to work across the world, to screen. We have enjoyed working in partnership with the many talented Irish producers and RT and look forward to taking these brand new formats to market.

The deadline for this round of Format Farm is 12 noon on Friday 8th February. The final decision on which ideas will be commissioned for broadcast on RT television rests with the RT commissioning editors of Entertainment, Lifestyle and RT Two.

LINK:	http://www.rte.ie/about/en/press-office/press-releases/2013/0201/36575...
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