MUMBAI: Keshet International (KI), the global distribution and production arm of Keshet Media Group, is set to bring a diverse slate from the US, China and Israel to MIPCOM in Cannes next week. Featuring two hit primetime shows, Help! I Can’t Cook and Not A Star Yet, US action thriller, DIG and Babe Magnet a cutting-edge dating show from Comedy Central.
DIG – From the creators and executive producers Gideon Raff (Homeland) and Tim Kring (Heroes), comes the highly anticipated action thriller series, DIG, which tells the story of a murder mystery set against the backdrop of modern day Jerusalem, a city shrouded in ancient intrigue.
FBI agent Peter Connelly (Golden Globe nominee Jason Isaacs, Awake) has had his fair share of heartbreak. Anxious to leave his personal demons behind, Peter takes a job stationed in Israel under the guidance of his new boss, and occasional lover, Lynn Monahan (Emmy Award-winner Anne Heche, Save Me). When he sets out to solve the murder of a young American, Peter soon finds himself embroiled in an international mystery that delves into the Holy Land’s darkest secrets. What he discovers is a conspiracy thousands of years in-the-making that threatens to change the course of history. While Peter races to figure out what it all means, he quickly finds that he may not be the only one searching for answers.
KI holds rights to DIG in Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Scandinavia, Russia and the CIS, Turkey, India, English speaking South Africa and Israel. Currently in production for USA Network, DIG is produced by Universal Cable Productions and was developed by Keshet, in association with Gail Berman (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) of The Jackal Group and Gene Stein (Deception). Keshet’s Avi Nir (Homeland), Alon Shtruzman and Karni Ziv also serve as executive producers.
Help! I Can’t Cook – Fresh from Keshet Broadcasting, KI will showcase its hugely popular new reality cooking format created by Keshet and Gil Productions. Since its debut on 13 September, which made it the second highest-rated original launch in Israel ever, the show has lead the weekly ratings charts, attracting an average audience share of 40% as viewers tune in to see the nation’s favorite celebrities struggling to survive in the show’s almighty kitchen.
In Help! I Can’t Cook celebrities face their fear of the kitchen – with disastrous, frustrating, heart-warming and rib-tickling results. The stars are pushed outside their comfort zone, losing their usual poise as they regress to their school days by becoming students at the remote and secluded Culinary Academy. Witness the results when you mix some supreme talent with a huge serving of egos and fold in a set of tasks way outside their comfort zone. Some deliciously entertaining viewing awaits…
Not A Star Yet – As part of a new collaboration KI is bringing the hit Chinese reality talent show, from Zhejiang TV, Not A Star Yet, to buyers in Cannes. This sensational talent/variety show with a central docu-reality element has led the rating charts in China generating ratings of 200 million viewers across each series, with its fifth season currently on air. Not A Star Yet has consistently beaten competition from 32 other channels and its nearest competitor by 40%, almost doubling Zhejiang’s slot average.
Not A Star Yet sees the children of the nation’s best known stars take to the stage. Having been shielded from the lime light until now, and with great expectation thrust upon them, the performers expose themselves for the first time, and must win over the crowd on their own merits while their celebrity parents watch from the sidelines.
In each episode, four celebrity offspring with various talents go head to head performing on stage supported by their chosen special star guest. Alongside the various stunning studio performances, Not A Star Yet is about the personal and family stories of the children who have grown up in the shadow of a household name.
Babe Magnet is a fun, new format from Comedy Central Israel that transforms the traditional dating game show with an original, outrageous twist. In this bold, action-packed competition magnetic force becomes the ultimate matchmaker. Produced by Nutz Productions, in Babe Magnet four single guys vie for the heart of one hot babe by answering all her questions on sex, love and attraction while pinned to various surfaces by state-of the art magnetic devices. The potential dates are put in precarious positions which see them stuck to anything from the front of a fridge to being unceremoniously picked up by a magnetic dumper truck and carried off if they are rejected. Every time the babe rejects a guy, she operates a magnetic device to repel them away. Eventually the babe eliminates each guy one by one, until finally, she chooses her Babe Magnet.
KI will also bring its explosive primetime game show BOOM! which has become a hit in Hungary and Spain having recently launched to gain 31% average share in primetime and 16% average share in access prime respectively – as well as being the leading show of the night in both territories almost every night. Alongside this is KI’s interactive talent show Rising Star which has sold to more than 25 territories, the spy drama MICE which is being remade in the US for NBC as Allegiance and the family sitcom Your Family or Mine which is being remade in the US for TBS.
