Michael Hajek Luc Marteling Week 14 the RTL Group Intranet
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week 14 the RTL Group intranet Newsletter 3 April 2008 Concentrated Creativity Thomas Valentin on the first group-wide format event Pitch & Meet United Kingdom Leona Lewis conquers the worldwide charts France Diana inspires dreams... in France United Kingdom Top sports bidder: Five Germany Educational magazine for children People Michael Hajek Luc Marteling week 14 the RTL Group intranet ‘‘This is a unique opportunity’’ For the first time, executives from RTL Group’s subsidiaries and from several production com- panies met up at M6’s headquarter in Paris for a day in early March to discuss new ideas, for- mats and concepts. Backstage spoke to Thomas Valentin, General Director Networks & Content at M6. France - 3 April 2008 The RTL Group Pitch & Meet provides a unique To ensure a successful meeting forum for exchanges of fresh format concepts for all participants, the day’s pro- between the creative directors of Europe’s lea- ceedings were broken down into ding production companies and programming two parts. During the daytime directors in RTL Group’s European network. It pitching session, the audience was the first time that RTL Group had invited consisted of RTL Group content around 40 of its senior executives to an exclusi- executives. The focus was on ve meeting. Representatives from seven leading presenting formats that appeal European production companies also joined the to various markets, taking meeting for a day of ideas, discussion and direct advantage of the Pitch & Meet’s feedback. The production companies that took international profile. Each pro- part were All3Media, BBC Worldwide duction company was allotted Productions, Endemol, FremantleMedia, ITV an exclusive 45-minute slot, Jane Milichip, COO of RDF Rights Productions, RDF Media Group and Shine including around 20 to 30 minutes to pitch their Group. ideas, followed by a Q&A session. For the second part of the event, which took place in the Jane Millichip, RDF Rights’ Chief Operating evening, RTL Group invited all the participants Officer commented: ‘‘We were flattered to be to a special get-together in the heart of Paris, invited to the RTL Pitch & Meet. RDF Rights has where in a relaxed atmosphere, worked extensively over the years with RTL creative executives from pro- Group companies, increasingly in the area of for- duction companies and RTL mats, and we have strong relationships with your Group's channels could discuss channel buyers. However, the Pitch & Meet ideas and projects on a one-to- added an extra dimension for us in that our one basis. heads of development from our production arm were able to meet and pitch to the RTL channel Claire Davenport, RTL Group’s controllers and directors of programmes. We are Executive Vice President pleased to say that since the event we have Corporate Strategy and continued to hold fruitful conversations with a Business Synergies, said: ‘‘The number of the RTL channels about a number of advantage of having seen all of our new formats. It is a very exciting prospect to these formats while together think that we could have one of our ideas produ- was that everyone not only got a Claire Davenport, EVP Corporate Strategy & Business Synergies ced and broadcast in mainland Europe before good overview of what is currently we have gone to air in the UK.’’ being marketed but could immediately discuss the ideas with other experts in the group. I think 2 week 14 the RTL Group intranet people found this very helpful and it has already led to some discussions of multi-territory pur- chases.’’ To provide a closer look on the event Backstage spoke to Thomas Valentin, General Director Networks & Content at M6, who chaired the meeting in Paris. What’s the idea behind RTL Group's Pitch & Meet? We're convinced that the relationship between broadcasters and production companies is the key to the success of our businesses. As a result, for some time now we’ve been exploring the idea of bringing programme exe- cutives from RTL Group’s various channels toge- ther with some of Europe’s top programme Thomas Valentin makers. How about feedback from the production companies’ representatives? We view Pitch & Meet as a unique opportunity for both sides to discuss new concepts and for- They were really happy to get a chance to talk to mats and share some of our experiences from 10 countries, i.e. 10 potential clients, simulta- across Europe. In addition, Pitch & Meet also neously. gives us a chance to enhance our relationships The feedback they received from RTL executives with producers, beyond just dealing with day-to- after each pitch was really useful and informati- day business. ve, though they also said they thought it was slightly too short. So we will try to improve the Last, but not least, it gives us the prospect of ‘Meet’ part of the event next time, allowing more discovering new formats before our main com- time for exchanges with the production compa- petitors. nies after each pitch. Have you already received any feedback from Do you see any particular trend in program- the participants on RTL Group’s side? mes at the moment? The feedback from RTL Group’s executives was The way I see it, there are currently five main extremely positive. They really enjoyed discove- trends: ring new formats and relished being given a ‘Big’ entertainment shows chance to discuss ideas with the production Loud, funny and often shot on location, these companies’ executives themselves. shows put courageous contestants through their physical paces and confront them with A linked event that also went down very well was spectacular challenges (e.g. American the holding of a Syco, or Synergy Committee Gladiators) meeting, between RTL Group’s programming directorsthe following day, which was used for First-person documentaries debriefing purposes and discussing the various These are documentaries narrated and presen- formats that had been pitched. This was dee- ted by a celebrity keen on exploring a current med a really useful follow-up event. social issue (beauty, food, war, prison). This involves highly subjective journalism. (Louis Theroux Behind Bars, Ross Kemp in Afghanistan, The Truth about Size Zero.) 3 week 14 the RTL Group intranet Natural beauty Do you intend to organize Pitch & A distant cousin of the old, familiar ‘fairytale Meet on a yearly basis? makeover’ shows, these down-to-earth coa- ching shows teach viewers how to boost their Yes, we plan to make Pitch & self-esteem and stop chasing unrealistic Meet an annual event , held a expectations about their looks without resor- few weeks before the MIP TV ting to Botox or dressing up like a princess. television fair. (How to Look Good Naked, Dawn Gets Naked) Next year, we would like to ‘Rough men’ docusoaps see the top production com- Rather than filming celebrity-chasing starlets or panies joined by smaller, local, contests in controlled environments, these but dynamic production com- documentary series depict the rough and panies. genuinely dangerous daily lives of ordinary workers doing extraordinary jobs, e.g. deep- The aim of this kind of event is to sea fishermen or loggers. make sure that the experience of being a (Deadliest Catch, Ax Men, Ice Road Truckers) programming executive at an RTL Group chan- nel is more rewarding than it would be at a No-knowledge-required quiz shows stand-alone channel. In other words, we want to Based either on common sense, pure luck or drive home the fact that sharing knowledge and sheer guts, these quiz shows do not require experience among programme makers from dif- extensive general knowledge on the part of ferent countries enriches the creative efforts of their participants. all those involved. Luck-based: Deal or No Deal and its many imitators . Personality based: Amnesia, Moment of Truth Thomas Valentin is Vice-Chairman of the . Common sense: Power of 10, Rich M6 Executive Board in charge of List Networks and Content, having been appointed to that post in February 2007. It is also worth noting that everybody’s on the Previously he had been M6’s Director of lookout for the first big ‘eco-show’, for although Programmes since March 1992, and the climate change and the environment are big group's Vice-Chairman since May 1996. issues in today’s popular culture, no environ- mentally themed show has yet managed to Since joining the Groupe M6 in its very consistently generate high TV ratings. early days, he has held numerous posts within the company, including: Director of Would you qualify the first Pitch & Meet a Fiction Programmes and International success? Relations until November 1989; Director of Fiction and Documentary Departments Indeed I would. It was a great success to get 40 and Chief of International Relations up to of RTL Group’s senior executives from 10 coun- December 1990; Deputy Director of tries together with top creative people and exe- Programmes and Director of Acquisitions cutives from Europe’s seven leading European and Production in 1991: Director of production companies. Programmes in 1992; and Chairman of M6 Films in 2000. Moreover, the following-up between RTL Group’s executives after the meeting was highly productive and extremely worthwhile in terms of potential future deals. 4 week 14 the RTL Group intranet Leona Lewis conquers the USA... and the worldwide charts Leona Lewis is already an established big-name singer in over 28 countries around the world and a shining star in the music business. She rose to prominence in December 2006 as the winner of the third season of The X-Factor in the UK. Leona Lewis United Kingdom - 1 April 2008 Now she’s managed to achieve what only few Leona Lewis’ meteoric rise to stardom hasn’t British artists before have succeeded in doing.