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GOT GAME? If you’ve got a mind for game shows and
love cooking up clever concepts, then enter the NEXT
HIT GAME SHOW Format Competition set to discover and
develop an original game show format for television.
Update:
Congratulations to our 2017 Winner & Finalists:
Winner: Josh Armstrong (Ontario, Canada.)
Finalists: Michael Donohue (Melbourne, Australia.), Colin Deakin (Liverpool, United Kingdon), Veronica Finnegan (Oceanside, NY), Ryan Connolly (London, United Kingdom)
Global Creative Director for NBCUniversal International, Rafi Nizam, joins panel to judge finalists for "Next Hit Game Show" format competition.
Senior Vice President, International Sales &
Distribution GRB Entertainment, Michael Lolato,
joins panel to judge finalists, with first look to
select winner. Additional Executive Producers on
panel to judge and select Winner are being
finalized.
Producer, Scott Manville (former Head of Development
for legendary Game Show Production Company, Merv
Griffin Entertainment) is bringing key industry
studios and producers together for this inaugural
competition scouting all corners of the country for
the most original and entertaining game show
concepts from new creators and producers. Each pitch
submitted will be reviewed for originality,
viability, and entertainment value. The creator of
the winning format will receive a $3000 prize
package as part of a Development Deal Proposal by
Company (including on-screen credit and per episode
fees and other participation to be negotiated) and
shopped to Key Production Company and Network.
Additional prizes are listed in the Awards & Prizes
section.
Entrants may submit a written description of their
game show format/concept, and may also include any
video reel or additional media to support the pitch.
Click the FilmFreeway button below to ENTER, or read further for more information:
I have a fondness for the game genre, as it was a main staple in my own development as a creative executive. What I learned was that we're not just creating games, and we're not just tweaking trivia challenges... We're creating DRAMAS! Pivotal moments of hard decision-making by contestants who face unique ultimatums. This is the TV of today, and it thrills me to reach beyond the rolodex and crowd source creatives from all corners of the country. This is a business of creative collaboration, and success is found when a passionate person takes a shot at sharing their talent, and we want you to share yours.
I was in the studio during run-throughs when Ryan Seacrest was discovered for his first TV job hosting our game show series Click at MGE, and spent seven more years punching up pitches and formulating formats for MGE and learning from the best. Most interesting was that it came at a time when the traditional 3 podium formats for game shows were breaking out and morphing with reality-based elements to deliver some of the most entertaining game shows to date. But the core of what makes a game show entertaining has never changed. Here are a few of those elements to keep in mind when crafting your TV game show pitch to enter in our contest:
KEYS TO CREATING GAME SHOW FORMATS:
Some things are fun to play, and some things are fun to watch. For television you need both.
Look at your game format not just as a structure, but as a story.
Today in television, game shows need to key on human emotion, personal scenarios and experiences.
Don't think it has to be an in-studio show. Settings and challenges that cross-over into "reality" are fine, but keep the action in a self-contained locale for easy coverage in production.
Each episode must have a unique structure of play that resolves itself in that one episode.
Be as detailed and unique as
possible with the various elements of your game so
that your format is original.
WHAT WE'VE SEEN WORK IN RECENT PROGRAMMING:
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: A trivia
challenge with escalating prize structure, and the
unique "life line" options that add dimension to the
format.
Weakest Link: Teamwork turns testy when working together to solve a chain of trivia questions to win cash, one of the contestants is voted out by their teammates as "The Weakest Link".
Deal or No Deal: A game of chance, but the format plays on the greed of a contestant, similar to gambling, and with a "banker" there to fuel the tension.
Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader: Humiliation is humorous in this clever and fun format that surprises adults with how little they know.
ORIGINALITY:
A Network is only going to launch an original Game Show format to audiences if they know they have a truly original show with content viewers haven't seen before. It doesn't mean that there aren't elements that we're already familiar with, but it means that they're looking for the overall experience and hook to be original. What I've always kept as my touchstone when developing any format is that anything and everything within that format serves the concept or hook that is the signature of the show. You're creating a puzzle that requires all parts to fit and fuel one another, and when working together in unison it delivers your vision of the game we're watching unfold. Challenge yourself to "see" the critical scenarios in the game, and then to know that it would be entertaining to watch.
Check out the TV Writers Vault "Creating Game Shows" Page for some good insight. Here's a blurb from the article:
"If you want to be a break-through creator of any television format it is important to make a conscious effort at letting go of pre-programmed instincts that have been engrained in us by having seen dozens and dozens of shows over so many years that tell us "this is what a game show is". Stamp your own passport and say to yourself "no, THIS is what a game show is." Let go of traditional ideas and invent new ways of bringing entertaining games to an audience."
Click the FilmFreeway button below to ENTER: