Q: In the past year, which genres have done well in the Asian markets? A: From our catalogue, the focus has been on big studio primetime formats such as True Talent, So You Think Can Dance and Copycat Singers. But we are also starting to have strong interest in some of our best-selling factual entertainment formats in certain territories.

Q: Which territories in particular have seen strong growth, or done well? A: I am very pleased to say that I have seen good growth in China and Vietnam.

Q: Buyers are increasingly looking at content with cross-platform potential. How high does such content rank on Zodiak Right’s catalogue at MIPCOM? A: Our formats can often be adapted to include crossplatform elements. For example, True Talent, which was produced recently in China, has a voting element that can be adapted for online interaction if the broadcaster wishes, but it is not an essential part of the format.

Q: What challenges do you see when selling your formats to Asia? A: Limited budgets are always the big obstacle; but I also deal with sales to Central Eastern Europe where the budgets are limited, too. Our consultancy team that supports each format sale are experts in the area of production and can use their expertise in working on a particular format in other territories to advise and guide the local producers to make the most of what they can afford and meet the expectations of their broadcaster.

Of course, some formats also need to be adapted slightly for Asian audiences and we are open to discussing any changes that need to be made to the formats we sell in order to make them more audience-friendly. This may be for reasons of cultural tastes, censorship issues or other restrictions to do with voting for example, depending on the territory.

Q: Few big formats have come out of Asia but do you see this changing? A: Good original ideas can come from anywhere and we are open and interested in distributing formats no matter where they come from if they are original and good!

Q: How do you differentiate your formats to keep ahead of your competition? A: Our catalogue is very diverse; we distribute formats developed from our local companies from around the world, as well as represent independent producers from the UK, the United States, the Netherlands and Germany, to name a few. We have extremely well known successful and proven entertainment brands such as So You Think You Can Dance, Don’t Forget the Lyrics and Sing If You Can, and we have a lot of interesting factual entertainment formats that have a track record internationally, with Secret Millionaire, Wife Swap and How to Look Good Naked being arguably the most well-known.

A couple of examples of formats from our partners from Israel (Deal with It!) and Germany (Nation’s Brightest and You’ve Got to Be Kidding Me) have also all sold well internationally. As well as our strong catalogue, I believe that our level of customer care is our strong selling point. We have very good production know-how and our consultants are the invaluable tool to adapting our shows worldwide.

Q: What titles are you are pushing at MIPCOM this year? A: We have new formats to announce that range from prime-time formats The Dare and While You Were Getting Married, to quiz shows like Tipping Point, factual entertainment such as Bad Boyfriend Club and comedy such as Trust Us With Your Life.

Q: Any pre-MIPCOM deals you can announce? A: We are very close to announcing two new commissions in the UK, which should be released at MIPCOM.