TORONTO – CBC and distributor Banijay International have selected the first original Canadian television format under their nascent Format Incubator initiative.
Anything But Average (working title) is an original factual concept from Frantic Films that was selected jointly by CBC’s Unscripted Content team and Banijay International. The series bills itself as the ultimate nation-defining format for the nosy neighbour inside all of us. By exploring the lives of statistically average Canadians — who are the same on paper, but very different in reality — this entertaining, engaging and fact-filled format asks what it means to be an “average” Canadian family in 2016.
Responding to Canadians’ love for comparisons, surveys and revealing statistics, Anything but Average uses data visualization to bring facts and figures about Canadian identity to life, layered over fly-on-the-wall footage of real families. The pilot episode, Modern Love, explores the nature of love, relationships, marriage and family dynamics and provides a surprising snapshot of modern Canadian life. Other potential episodes will focus on themes including money, diet, religion, leisure time and housing across the nation.
The hour-long pilot is currently in production and will air in March 2016.
“Our goal with the Format Incubator was to harness the depth of creativity in our independent production community and create a format that would resonate with other countries, as well as the CBC audience,” said Jennifer Dettman, CBC’s executive director of unscripted content, in the news release. “We’re excited to work with Frantic Films and Banijay International to bring this unique concept to life.”
“We’re very pleased with the outcome of our collaboration with CBC,” added Banijay International managing director Emmanuelle Namiech. “Anything But Average is an engaging series which demonstrates that the average isn’t so common after all. We found this concept very relatable and we are looking forward to launching the format on the international market.”
“We are thrilled to have been selected to work with CBC and Banijay to create this innovative new program,” said Frantic Films CEO and executive producer Jamie Brown. “It would be fantastic to see this new approach generate a hit series in Canada and a format that can be adapted around the world.”
www.cbc.ca
