Format

At MIPCOM in Cannes Sophie Ferron, President and Founder of award-winning format production and distribution company Media Ranch, announced major Format deals, which were all developed by Horsepower format incubator participants: Wheelhouse Entertainment signs on to adapt and produce House Party: Just Dance; a co-development deal with The CW for Racing To Survive; and Love Van, the Horsepower 3rd season winner in co-development with TF1 and Quebecor Content, was just named as one of The Wit’s Fresh Picks at MIPCOM.

House Party: Just Dance is based on the No. 1 music video game franchise of all time, Ubisoft’s® global phenomenon Just Dance ®, which has sold over 80 million video games worldwide and garnered over 12.3 billion views on YouTube. House Party, based on early developments in the Horsepower incubator, was further developed in collaboration between Ubisoft® and Media Ranch. Wheelhouse will adapt, lead the production, and co-exec produce with Media Ranch.

Racing to Survive is an eco-competition format. The show was a finalist in the MIPFormats 2020 International pitch competition before going into development at The CW. Media Ranch will exec-produce as well.

Media Ranch’s mission for Horsepower is that it be a training ground that fosters and celebrates new creators, with a focus on individuals who have not had access to the television industry. Horsepower consistently draws untapped talent with fresh, exciting, and impactful new ideas. Additional winning formats from the incubator (Family Tripped and Heartbreak Hotel respectively) are in development with Korea’s FormatEast.

Media Ranch also announced, with Julien Degroote, V.P. of Content Development of the TF1 Group, and Yann Paquet, Vice President, Strategy and International Business, Quebecor Content that their Gen-Z and millennial dating show format Love Van, was chosen as one of The Wit’s Fresh TV picks at MIPCOM. Presented by Virginia Mouseler, CEO of The Wit, many of the chosen shows go onto be broadcast hits.

The program resulted from the format Horsepower project they oversaw earlier this year, in cooperation France’s La Fabrique des Formats, TF1 and Quebecor Content.

The Wit (World Information Tracking) is a leading content research and advisory company, and at every MIP in France for years, it has selected and revealed the Freshest Formats, and other genres, to watch for success, based on its research and what is trending in the industry.

Ferron stated: “Media Ranch is thrilled to announce our Horsepower-developed format deals, showcasing talented young producers who developed these shows within the incubator. We are very excited to partner with Wheelhouse on the format we developed with Ubisoft®, House Party: Just Dance; and to partner with The CW for an amazing eco-focused competition format – Racing to Survive. And we are honored that our Horsepower 3 winning format, Love Van, was chosen by The Wit as one of their top trending fresh formats to watch, which will be co-developed with TF1.”

Scott Lonker, Chief Creative Officer, Wheelhouse Entertainment, said, “Just Dance is so ripe for TV and streaming development; all of us at Wheelhouse can’t wait to harness the fun that dance music and the whole Ubisoft game series inspire, and to collaborate with the great team at Media Ranch.

Julien Degroote added “TF1 was so inspired by the Horsepower project and the wonderful shows we discovered by nurturing new talented producers, such as Alexandra Paquin who created Love Van. We are seriously developing the project.”

Yann Paquet added “As a partner of L’Écurie since day 1, we are very pleased to see Québec talent shine on the most prominent international platforms, such as Fresh TV Formats. This year, L’Écurie has once again produced projects of impressive creativity and quality.”