★★★★★ 0/5

ABC picks up controversial Bully Project

ABC signals a move away from a former corporation rule of "no international formats."

8
Leave a comment

2015-04-14_0101

The ABC has signalled a move away from a former corporation rule of “no international formats” by announcing it will commission local versions of European shows So Not OK and The Bully Project.

Former ABC Director of Television Kim Dalton had ruled that ABC leave local versions of international formats to commercial broadcasters, under his management.

This week ABC Head of Creative and Content Development Adrian Swift, formerly of Nine, announced two formats at MIPTV.

Dutch format The Bully Project is a factual series in which a bullied student is fitted with a rucksack containing hidden cameras and a microphone. Over a period of 1-2 weeks they record the torment they endure before parents and classmates watch the footage and learn about the associated issues. In The Netherlands the series caused a media storm before and was even debated in Parliament.

Swedish format So Not OK combines sketches, practical experiments and research data to investigate what is deemed to be appropriate public behaviour.

Each week two comedians test the limits of unwritten everyday rules, such as: Is it OK to bring your children to work – and what’s a valid reason? Can you ask an acquaintance how much he or she earns per year? Is it OK to give a painting as a housewarming present and then expect it to be up on the wall the next time you visit?

“Like every broadcaster around the world, faced with declining budgets and declining audiences, there are parts of the schedule where you have less to lose by using a format. It de-risks things,” he said.

“Some markets have housing bubbles; we have a reality bubble in Australia. I think it’s one of those things where we wait until the reality bubble goes pop,” Swift also said. “The big formats like The Voice cost more and more to make. We aren’t too far from drama in the cost frame, so I think a lot of the networks, certainly in my territory, are scaling back reality.”

ITV has also a local version for the UK.

Source: IF, Hollywood Reporter

8 Responses

  1. Australian TV should be Australian-produced, but not in the form of cheap-shit reality or cooking shows(the latter polluting SBS’s schedules more and more of late). What Australia needs is good quality drama(Blue Heelers, Dr. Blake Mysteries), Good variety shows(Young Talent Time) and good comedy(Kingswood Country, Naked Vicar), and quality talk shows(Andrew Denton’s “Enough Rope”)

  2. Kim Dalton was right to ban imported formats. The ABC is there to be distinctive and original not to mimic commercial broadcasters who have taken the low risk foreign format route since inception. Sadly this is a sign of the times for the ABC as it slips into mediocrity. Mark Scott has little expertise when it comes to TV genres outside of news and he has given no guidance to management. It is time for a new CEO with expert TV skills who can put a broom through the place.

  4. No, it’s not OK. The commercial channels are on a road to self-destruction which the ABC doesn’t need to follow. What a dull life we would lead if we “de-risked” everything.

  5. If TEN had commissioned these shows, everyone would be rubbishing them. Bully Project sounds ok, but So Not Ok looks like crap. Although that is what I said about Gogglebox and I was proved wrong.

  6. What a depressing article. The best Adrian Swift can do is lead the campaign to “de-risk things”? It’s a pity declining budgets and declining audiences cannot be challenged with home-grown creativity and innovation. Why doesn’t Mark Scott demand the same level of intelligence and excellence from the TV division that he expects (and gets) from News/Caff?

Leave a Reply