Montreal producer-distributor Media Ranch has secured a partnership with Danish pubcaster DR to represent its television formats catalog ahead of this year’s MIPTV market in Cannes.
Under the pact, Media Ranch will represent all DR formats internationally and create a special ‘DR Collection’ category that will sit within its own formats catalog. The move will further expand Media Ranch’s unscripted formats catalog to include Danish fact-ent formats The Manipulator, following hypnotherapist Jan Hellesøe as he manipulates a range of participants with ease; Hypnotize My Heart (pictured), which sees Hellesøe run psychological experiments to help people improve their dating lives; and talent series Design Star, which sees five designers in head-to-head competition to create a new piece of furniture.
Media Ranch will also represent Project Rembrandt (Helder TV for Dutch broadcaster NTR), a talent show in search of the country’s best amateur painter working in the traditions of Dutch painter Rembrandt; Masterpiece (POSVIDEO for Avrotros Netherlands), which sets out to reconstruct eight of the most diverse Dutch ‘masterpiece’ paintings; reality series In the Car(Pandora Formats for Teleticino Switzerland), following five people who live in a small car over a 10-day period; and hidden camera prank series Surprise Surprise (produced by PRAM in Canada).
“This landmark deal demonstrates our strength as a globally strong player in unscripted formats. We are confident all our formats will resonate extremely well with international buyers,” said Media Ranch SVP of distribution Tanja van der Goes in a statement.
The partnership follows the recent launch of Media Ranch’s first Scandinavian office in Warsaw, Denmark. Louise Juel Severin, former DR formats sales manager, will head the new operation as its VP of sales and acquisitions for Scandinavia.
This past January, Media Ranch and U.S. producer-distributor GRB Studios inked a strategic partnership to expand both businesses’ original IP and distribution operations worldwide.
