Format Superpitch 2009 Winner: BITWORLD – NHK (Japan) Koji Kiuchi, Senior Producer, Production Center (Youth & Education Programs), Program Production Department, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.) At the Format Superpitch 2009, we proposed the special live episode from BITWORLD, which consists of four or five eight-minute drama episodes (these were incorporated into a weekly children’s show) followed by a special live episode that features an interactive game. The drama scenario, the game design, and the flexible program composition are carefully calculated to make children feel part of the program. The aims of the project, as a public broadcaster’s TV program, were to nurture children’s creativity, to stimulate children intellectually, and give them a sense of togetherness by having them work toward a shared goal. The challenge of working on this project lay in the difference between the mentality behind TV production and the mentality behind software production for the Internet. With TV, the product must be completely finished and polished for the first airing. With the Internet, by contrast, the tendency is to release a product and then improve it as necessary. But with our project, the game software had to work perfectly on the first outing; a server failure or a software bug that might, say, have caused a player’s computer to freeze were completely unacceptable. Creating a happy marriage between TV production and software production was a difficult balancing act. In Japan, 100,000 children played the game during a single episode. We’re sure that the format would appeal to children all over the world. We wanted children all over Japan to be able to experience the fusion of TV and the Internet by enabling them to watch the program on TV and play the game on the program website at the same time. The “feel” for the children came largely from being able to turn their attention from one screen (the TV set) to the other (the computer) and vice versa while being made to feel part of the program through both media. We believe this kind of two-screen interaction will become more common thanks to BITWORLD. The reason BITWORLD was so popular was its interactivity. Children sent in their ideas for costumes and character names and designs, and the production team used them in the weekly program. In creating the game in the special live episode, we drew on everything we had received and learned since launching the program. We were committed to accepting and using children’s fantastic ideas, and we tried not to modify them using adult values. As a result, children had a sense that they were engaged in the story and actually saving the world by playing the game. THE PEACEMAKERS, Sauce Television (New Zealand) David Harry Baldock, Head of Television I have been very fortunate to have been working as a director and producer in New Zealand for nearly forty years now, having started in the industry straight from school. Incidentally I started in Dunedin as an assistant film editor to a film editor called Michael Stedman who has been the Head of NHNZ for many years now. Over the years I have been fortunate to produce award winning factual and reality series which have also been major commercial successes for all three networks in New Zealand. Shows such as Mitre10 Dream Home, Location Location Location, Emergency Heroes, Our People Our Century and the incredibly successful Sensing Murder which won Best Reality two years running. THE PEACEMAKERS was developed as an evolution of the successful shows we are already producing, Dream Home, Sensing Murder and Location Location Location. Like Sensing Murder, THE PEACEMAKERS builds on the increasing awareness amongst the views of a different approach to solving issues. The amazing insights achieved in Sensing Murder has shown that the more accepted understanding of the ‘spiritual’ world of the east has a growing acceptance in the West. THE PEACEMAKERS combines the three disciplines of psychic, Feng Shui and the more traditional psychologist to look at what needs to be changed both physically and mentally in troubled homes. It’s a relationship series which combines Super Nanny with Extreme Makeover. Being selected to partake in the Superpitch competition was a great honour. It was truly a daunting experience to be amongst great talent from throughout Asia. All the projects had real potential. Having to prepare for the pitch ensures you really do work through as much as your concept as possible beforehand. The insight and questions from the judges were challenging and given their calibre really insightful. For any Producer the experience of fronting up to pitch your own concept, although daunting is an extremely valuable experience and I would encourage all to make it part of their development schedule. What has been really encouraging has been the comments from the judges following the pitch and their on-going interest, this has been fantastic. I would welcome any further interest from Broadcasters who can contact me at baldock@sauce.co.nz DATE MY SISTER??!!, Sitting in Pictures (Singapore) Tan Chih Chong Sitting in Pictures is a Singapore based production company formed since 2000. Our core competency has been in the production of factual programmes for both the local and international markets. Over the years, we have produced numerous genres including documentaries, lifestyle, food, as well as drama and children’s. In the last 4 years we broadened our international exposure with broadcasters such as Discovery Channel and AETN. Our project Kylie Kwong: My China was a collaborative effort with 2 other partners: Media Development Authority of Singapore and FremantleMedia UK. The series has been distributed to more than 50 territories around the world. Following this experience, we are now developing new and exciting content for international markets and the new media space, each created with unprecedented business models. We are currently working on a culinary reality series titled, KungFu Kitchen, produced for Channel News Asia International. This entertaining series which pits chefs in new territory puts a new spin in an all too familiar genre. DATE MY SISTER?!!! is a search for the new age renaissance man – a metrosexual male with brains, brawns and sensitivities. Encapsulated in a game show format with a dating/male make-over/self-improvement theme, 12 contestants vie for the attention of a beautiful girl. Standing in their way are a couple of ultra-protective brutish brothers from hell. This is an entertaining, educational appointment TV with sponsor-friendly concept. Pitching was both a nerve-wrecking and an enriching experence for us. It’s tough trying to cram all the salient information under 5 mins, and make yourself cohesive all at once. But it’s a great exercise and surely proves a useful experience in our future pitches. We don’t often receive instant feedback when we pitch to broadcasters. As such it is quite priceless to hear from a panel about the content and also the presentation. We certainly picked up great tips from the panel which will come in useful further down the line. Interested broadcasters should kindly contact either Soh Kiak: sohkiak@sittinginpictures.com or Chih Chong: chihchong@sittinginpictures.com. Alternatively, call us at the office: + 65 6220 8608