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MIPTV and FOX Alternative Entertainment (FAE), FOX Entertainment’s in-house unscripted studio, today revealed the five finalists of the 2023 MIPFORMATS PITCH, each of whom will be invited to present their original unscripted entertainment formats to a jury in Cannes on day one of MIPTV 2023 (17-19 April).

The jury will be chaired by Allison Wallach, President, Unscripted Programming of FOX Entertainment, with Yasmin Rawji (Executive Vice President, Unscripted – Network, of FOX Entertainment) and Nathalie Wogue (Consultant, International Format Strategist, FAE), and the session moderated by Maria Chiara Duranti (Chief Editor, Formatbiz).

A record 89 projects from 27 countries were submitted for the 2023 competition. The finalists are:

‘Eyes On The Prize’, The Connected Set (UK)
‘Gold’, Format Espresso (Italy)
‘Show Must Go On’, formatworkshop (Turkey)
‘The Love Pitch’, Select TV Formats Ltd (UK)
‘Weekend Without Parents’, LLC Heroes Creative Studio (Ukraine)

The winner of the MIPFORMATS PITCH will be awarded US$5000 for development by FAE, along with the opportunity to have their concept pitched to global buyers as part of FOX’s $US100 million International Unscripted Format Fund. The MIPFORMATS PITCH and KEYNOTE PRESENTATION takes place live on stage, Monday 17 April from 3.45pm in the Debussy Theatre of the renowned Palais des Festivals in Cannes with one winning concept selected live on stage.

2023 marks the second year that MIPFORMATS PITCH is staged in association with FAE. The ongoing association with MIPFORMATS reflects the studio’s proactive strategy to identify, develop and finance the production of unscripted series from all over the world. 2022 MIPFORMATS PITCH winner Cheat On The Glitch, created by Christian Gamboa, is currently being developed by FAE.

“As expected, year two of our teaming with RX Global on the MIPFORMATS PITCH has resulted with even more exciting entries my team and I have thoroughly enjoyed reviewing,” said Wallach. “The broad and diverse pool of concepts from which we selected this year’s five finalists sparked a number of meaningful conversations, which is always a great sign of a strong pitch. It will be fun to be in the room with each finalist and see which entry we think has the greatest potential and rises to the top in Cannes.”

“MIP markets provide the global stage for formats from all countries…” commented RX France Entertainment Division Director & Director of MIPTV Lucy Smith. “…and in FOX we have partners on the MIPFORMAT PITCH with both an exceptional track record, and an ongoing commitment to, discovering and championing innovative formats globally. It makes for a truly game-changing opportunity for the finalists.”

The 60th MIPTV Spring International Content and Co-Production Market is tracking to welcome 6000 international entertainment executives to Cannes including an estimated 530 exhibiting companies and 1600 buyers hailing from over 80 countries.

Billed as the Biggest Week in Unscripted, and the Must-Attend Market for Drama and Kids, MIPTV 2023 features five programming strands accessible with one pass: Documentary and Factual (MIPDOC) and Formats (MIPFORMATS) alongside Drama (MIPDRAMA), Kids (THE FUTURE OF KIDS TV SUMMIT) and FAST Channels (FAST & GLOBAL).