Sonia Pérez, creative and international director of Cuarzo Producciones, and Sara Barata, creative director of Shine Iberia Portugal, will be the mentors on behalf of Banijay Iberia.
Content powerhouse, Banijay Entertainment, today opens its application process for a second cycle of its award-winning global initiative, Banijay Launch. Designed to exclusively support women creators with promising unscripted formats, the program was first launched at MIPCOM ’23, with winners for its initial cycle announced in March.
Coinciding with its second run, Banijay Launch is today set to accept this year’s “Behind the Scenes Impact Award” at the Diversify TV Awards (MIPCOM ’24), owing to its contribution to diversity and inclusion within the content community. Those around the world wishing to apply to this year’s initiative, dedicated to discovering and incubating untapped talent from all backgrounds to support the next generation of global franchise makers, can apply here.
The winner(s) of Banijay Launch will emerge victorious from the three to five finalists in the process who are all mentored by a local creative to develop their formats, with the aim of nurturing them to screen. Supported over several months, the competition culminates with a live pitch presentation before a judging panel. The winner(s) are then given additional guidance and support as they take their ideas out to buyers.
Sharon Levy, CEO, Endemol Shine North America and James Townley, Chief Content Officer, Development, Banijay Entertainment: “It’s very difficult to nurture and navigate an idea to screen for even the most experienced creators, let alone women creators who don’t have ‘connections’ to a prodco or group. The recent study we conducted with the Geena Davis Institute really reinforced the gender imbalance in unscripted creation, and with Banijay Launch we hope to open the door to women whose ideas may not otherwise be heard and facilitate positive change for these creators while supercharging our pipeline, and the industry’s at-large. The market and creative economy relies on great ideas, and we don’t want to leave any behind… particularly from women.”
In its first run, Banijay Launch received an extraordinary 500+ applications from 30+ territories and a diversity of backgrounds. With the finalists pitching their ideas in-person to an esteemed jury comprisingEndemol Shine North America CEO, Sharon Levy; Banijay Chief Content Officer, Development, James Townley; Banijay Chief Business Officer, Fred Balmary; Banijay Iberia CEO, Pilar Blasco; and Founder and CEO of Everywoman Studios, Abby Greensfelder, two winners were selected – Amber Kane (Australia), for variety talent concept, Double Act; and Emily Wilson (UK), for psychological dating format, Can’t Buy Love. This year, the judges will be joined by Cathy Payne, CEO, Banijay Rights, and Alexia Laroche-Joubert, CEO, Banijay France.
The first cycle of Banijay Launch was initiated by Levy, co-led by Townley, and supported by a network of creative ambassadors across Banijay Entertainment who nurtured the finalists in developing their bold new formats from concept to pitch, with the aim of the winning ideas eventually landing on screen. The pair continue to oversee the operation, supported by a new wave of ambassadors dotted across the group’s 23-territory footprint.
The inaugural Banijay Launch was supported by the commission of a first-of-its-kind study with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, in partnership with Everywoman Studios. The findings of the ground-breaking study, which highlighted significant gender disparity in unscripted production across Brazil, U.K., U.S., and France, were unveiled in July, with the key findings available here.
Banijay Launch was inspired by the Propelle program, a female-focused accelerator initiative created and developed in 2020 by Everywoman Studios’ CEO, Abby Greensfelder. At Banijay Entertainment, the initiative capitalises on the infrastructure and expertise of Creative Networks, its central unscripted content department co-led by Townley and Lucas Green, Chief Content Officer, Operations.
