Sophie Ferron, President and Founder of award-winning format production and distribution company Media Ranch, announces multiple format deals with Asia-based companies including South Korea’s Something Special and FormatEast (an SBS subsidiary), and Japan’s TV Asahi via US-based Small World IFT.

Korea’s Something Special, which is founded and run by Jin Woo Hwang and InSoon Kim,has signed on to distribute Media Ranch’s Don’t Laugh in Asia. With this new deal, Media Ranch and Something Special are now partnered on three projects including:

• Finally, it’s Mine,  a new competition reality format born from Media Ranch’s partnership with Something Special announced last year and is developed with South Korean creative prodco Sweet Pumpkin(created numerous Korean hit formats including Magical Wardrobe, About Time (Wavve).
• Media Ranch and Something Special also has an exchange deal where Something Special represents Media Ranch’s original format Watch! In Asia and Media Ranch represents Something Special’s original formats Miracle Habits and Miracle Recipes outside of Asia (previously announced).

Media Ranch and Tim Crescenti’s Small World IFT have partnered to distribute Japan’s TV Asahi popular format, Happily Ever Apart. Media Ranch just signed an option in the U.S. with prodco Figure 8 Films.

From Media Ranch’s FormatEast partnership in the U.S., 44 Blue Productions LLC, a Red Arrow Studios Company, has optioned Boundary, created by MiYeon Kim who created the top-rated Running Man, a South Korean hit reality/game show. And Honey in the Box is optioned by 1/17 in the USA and Fair-Play Group for  French-speaking Canada. 

Ferron stated, “Today marks the next step in Media Ranch expanding its content scope with not only strong partnerships, but with meaningful ones that fit into our future. Expanding our Asian footprint through our distribution and co-development venture with Something Special and Sweet Pumpkin complements that journey. Additionally, our distribution partnerships with FormatEast in Korea; a Japanese format representation with Small World, and our amazing collaborations with 44 Blue, 1/17, Fair-Play Group and Figure 8 Films, we realize the more we reach across borders, the more we find successful friendships to build outstanding formats.”

Hwang added: “Something Special is a creative Korean format hub with a mission to highlight the best Korean content and creative talents to a global audience. Media Ranch is the perfect partner who shares our deep love of creating the best formats that can travel the world. Our co-work project Finally, It’s Mine is a wonderful new format with a never-before-seen before approach to reality formats. And we continue to grow our partnership by taking their fun format Don’t Laugh into Asia. We look forward to promoting the show at MIPTV.”