Madelyn (00:05) Hello, welcome to The Unscripted Files. This is our Unscripted Industry News episode with none other than Emily Wilson giving us all of the big headlines in the industry. Welcome, Emily. Emily Wilson (00:15) Thank you for having me back. Madelyn (00:17) Of course, a lot going on this week. We were just trying to cull it down to a couple of headlines. But first, you know, our last episode was all about the Warner Brothers and Paramount merger. And we've got another big one with two huge players in the unscripted industry. Tell us about it. Emily Wilson (00:35) Yeah, so Banajay and All3 media have confirmed their merger. This was rumored for a while. And we've seen other things in the news like Banajay perhaps buying ITV for a while, but it looks like with a joint venture backed by Redbird Capital Pictures, this merger deal is going ahead and things like the Traders and Big Brother are going to be under the same roof, which is crazy. Madelyn (01:02) No, they're such a huge player and it looks like this was what, $8 billion deal. it's, certainly a a big shakeup in the UK market and for UK producers as well. So just even more mergers and consolidations to be aware of. It's kind of crazy. We've got, you know, we talked last week about Reality Check and America's Next Top Model and this. trend of revisiting early 2000s TV that is, you know, in hindsight, a little unsavory now. Tell me about the latest look back doc we're getting. Emily Wilson (01:37) so we're getting one about the swan, which was a controversial reality show. I wasn't familiar with this show before seeing the announcement of the documentary, but took self-proclaimed ugly ducklings over the course of three months. It was like an extreme makeover show. So I can see why after Biggest Loser and ANTM that it's getting that documentary treatment. Madelyn (01:59) Yeah, I actually hadn't heard of the swan either. I watched Extreme Makeover, which was only focused on one person, right? But it looks like the swan was actually a makeover as well as a competition. So it took like a few people gave them a makeover and then someone was named like the hottest swan, which is so... Emily Wilson (02:19) mean the way we're describing it, it's problematic. We haven't even uncovered the rest. Madelyn (02:24) Well, and it specifically says the show gave women extreme makeovers via a team. I don't even think men were involved here. So it's just, and the self-proclaimed ugly duckling, it's, God, it just hurts. But yeah, again, looking back at some of these, this was a 2004 show. Hulu has ordered this film to take a quote, scalpel to the series, the Hollywood Reporter has learned. looks like it's gonna be directed and produced by Erin Lee Carr, who has, you know, the perfect wife, trophy wife, the catfishing of Tegan and Sarah, Murdaugh death in the family. So yeah, definitely curious to see. how this is going to go down and and having not watched the show I'm kind of tempted to now watch it a little bit to have some context before I dive in. Another celebrity doc coming out with the director of The Perfect Neighbor, Talk to me about who the focus is of that one. Emily Wilson (03:17) to Whoopi Goldberg documentary, which is led by a few different production companies. It's untitled so far, but it will expand on her autobiography. Madelyn (03:27) Yeah, her autobiography, Bits and Pieces, My Mother, My Brother, and Me. It's going to be an intimate look into the life of the comedian, actress, tracing her rise through observational verite of her today. she goes behind the scenes, reimagines her Broadway debut, One Woman Show, the Whoopi monologues for Lincoln Center. So yeah, this is really interesting. I love seeing the success of The Perfect Neighbor now turn into many more projects. So that's super exciting. What's next in our news? Emily Wilson (03:56) So the Traitors which has been a massive travelling reality format, has just been renewed in the UK on the BBC until 2030 for both like civilian or contestant traders as well as celebrity traders which only launched in the UK last year. Madelyn (04:13) never seen a renewal announcement like this ever. Have you? Emily Wilson (04:18) No, it's huge. Madelyn (04:20) It is absolutely wild. And I just recently convinced a couple of friends to get into to get into traders who like aren't reality TV people. And I was like, trust me, you're going to like it. And it's just it just speaks further, I think, to how strong this format is, how strong this team is. I've never seen an announcement like this that's projecting into the future in this way. So congrats. Congrats to this whole team. This is so massive. I will be watching it until 2030 and beyond. Emily Wilson (04:51) Yeah, I mean Studio Lambert has been going from strength to strength but yeah to have a legacy network like the BBC commit to something for that long knowing that the funding will always be there and hoping that the audience will always be there is really huge. Madelyn (05:09) Absolutely. There's another really large format game show that's coming back with its own celebrity version. Talk to me about Squid Game, the VIP challenge. This felt like the next natural evolution of this format, right? It did so well. So yeah, who are we gonna see as a part of this now? Emily Wilson (05:27) think some people are quite surprised because the evolution of Squid Game as a scripted format was kind of going against the whole celebrity, you know, it was a bunch of people fighting for money. Madelyn (05:40) That's a great point. It was very anti-celebrity, anti-upper class. That's really a good point. Emily Wilson (05:47) Yeah, I think one of the biggest names on this is Mel B, is a Spice Girl. There's Tristan Thompson from the NBA. Dylan Efron, there's Hannah Godwin from The Bachelor. So a mix of stars taking part in this. I imagine it will be very physical, like the civilian format that we've seen, but will be interesting to see how much it changes. Madelyn (06:12) Yes, absolutely. looks like we've got Kim from the Real House sides of Atlanta as well. Kristy Sarah. She's the content creator who's always like trying on heels and then like jumping around doing crazy stuff. And then it looks like the winner of Squid Game the Challenge season two fan vote is coming back. So yeah, this is going to be packed. I'm interested to see how this works out. mean, listen, it's giving special forces. It's giving sort of all of those celebrity driven big physical Emily Wilson (06:25) you Madelyn (06:39) challenges and this is this is certainly going to be an interesting one. A headline that caught my eye recently was a new dating show coming from Paramount Plus which is a first for them on the streaming service called Making Love from Kinetic Content. I mean listen what a way to have a grabby title. I'm into it. They didn't really give much away about the format. Did you find out anything? Emily Wilson (07:02) Not much. I mean, we know that Kinetic Content Made Love is blind, but they're really just saying it's a bold new relationship experiment where singles take their destiny into their own hands. So it leaves a lot to the imagination right now. Madelyn (07:15) I'm sure, I'm sure, okay. Yeah, Kinetic's also responsible for other big hits like Claim to Fame. So listen, I'm sure it's gonna be great. They're always sort of pushing the boundaries with these large format experimental shows. And listen, I love it. I love a grabby title. I'm surprised we haven't seen this as a dating title before. So I'm very into it. Last thing I wanna talk about that I just came across is Peacock's gonna be the first streaming service to add vertical live sports game titles in an AI. Andy Cohen according to deadlines so they are going to be offering full vertical video for live sports casual games like Jeopardy a game based on law and order and an AI of Andy Cohen to lead viewers through their personalized Bravo verse. So again, the vertical live sports is a first for any US streamer. And I think, you know, Peacock is sort of known to lag kind of behind our bigger streamers. So the fact that they're really pushing with these verticals and trying to see where this is evolving, I think is really interesting. And I think everyone, if they're not already trying to develop in this space, I think everyone is going to soon fall behind and we're going to be getting verticals with every streaming platform. Emily Wilson (08:27) Yeah, it will be interesting to see. It's exciting to see Peacock move into the live space. It has worked for Netflix in some cases. So yeah, and Vertical is everywhere now. Madelyn (08:38) Yes, vertical and gaming. Netflix has a recent emphasis on gaming as a part of their strategy. So Peacock's, like I said, adding those new titles, The Law and Order, Jeopardy. So that interactive element we're seeing a lot. And I think that's going to continue. These platforms are just going to become an everything platform. just, know, between Netflix adding podcasts, we're adding games. Everyone's just trying to... snatch up as much attention in this attention economy as possible. And it's really feeling like a real arms race. Emily Wilson (09:11) Yeah, mean competition between streamers to have the next big show has always been there. People don't want to pay for five or six different streaming services so they've got to do something to be different. Madelyn (09:24) 100%. Well, I will tell you personally, I've been watching a lot of the new Southern hospitality. I have been, I just finished up Southern Charm, the reunion Are you gonna tune into any of the titles above? Emily Wilson (09:35) I was not familiar with the first one you mentioned. Madelyn (09:38) Southern Charm? It's basically this, it's out of Charleston, South Carolina, and it is a group of well-to-do young people, well, it started in their 20s, they're all in their 30s and 40s now, who are just dating each other and going to... Emily Wilson (09:39) Yeah. Madelyn (09:58) derby parties and drinking too much and all dating and sleeping with each other in this sort of. lush background of like historical Charleston. It's pretty good. I can't lie. It's like, it's yeah, it's good. Emily Wilson (10:12) sounds quite similar to the premise of the show we have over here called Maiden Chelsea. So I'd actually be interested to watch Southern Charm and see how similar the two are. Madelyn (10:17) yes! Yes! Yeah, like very posh proper. vibes, right? Like that's definitely how it is. Lots of horses, like all the things. So yeah, tune in. I'd love to know what you think and I'll have to watch Maiden Chelsea as well. But yeah, a lot of new TV on. It's exciting. Thank you as always for coming on and sharing your insights. Don't forget to subscribe to Emily's Substack Unscripted TV News and follow her on LinkedIn. She's always posting about the latest in Unscripted and is an incredible follow if you want to stay up to date on all many happenings in the industry. So thank you so much Emily and we'll see you next time. Emily Wilson (10:58) for having me.