Deals Bring the Hit Series to France, Germany, Portugal and Argentina
LOS ANGELES/TORONTO, Jan. 27, 2016 – Multimedia entertainment studio Electus, an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ: IAC), announced today that it has secured a host of global sales for Media Headquarters’ hit format Canada’s Smartest Person.
Created and Executive Produced by Robert Cohen, the factual entertainment format, originally developed in Canada for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), is a prime time competitive reality series in which competitors prove their smarts in unique challenges that go beyond trivia or IQ tests.
Deals have been reached with Fremantle in France, Constantin Entertainment in Germany and Fremantle Portugal. Additionally, a deal with Mandarina Television will see 16 episodes of the series produced for Argentinian broadcaster El Trece.
“We’re thrilled to see the Canada’s Smartest Person format successfully selling internationally,” said John Pollak, President of Electus International. “The series is a hit in Canada and now audiences everywhere are seeing how entertaining the format is. Electus is committed to working with outstanding Canadian partners such as Media Headquarters and CBC on innovative formats that are in demand globally.”
In 2015, Electus licensed Canada’s Smartest Person to Turkey’s TRT and Sera Film for production, where it was broadcast last year.
Hosted by Jessi Cruickshank, CBC’s Canada’s Smartest Person is an original competition series that redefines what it means to be smart. Based on the Theory of Multiple Intelligences, the program tests participants in six different categories of smarts: Visual, Musical, Logical, Linguistic, Physical and Social. Each week, viewers can play along with the groundbreaking Canada’s Smartest Person app, available for iOS and Android devices. The app syncs to every broadcast allowing viewers to participate with each challenge in the show in real time and receive their own intelligence profile.
Canada’s Smartest Person is produced by Media Headquarters in association with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. For more information about Canada’s Smartest Person, visit www.cbc.ca/smartestperson/.
About Media Headquarters
Media Headquarters is a leading Canadian television and digital media production company founded in 1999 by Executive Producer Robert Cohen. The company is widely recognized for producing popular series and original formats for worldwide markets. Media Headquarters has won numerous Gemini Awards, been nominated for an Emmy® Award and consistently makes the Realscreen ‘Global 100′ List celebrating the world’s best non-fiction producers. Media Headquarters’ slate includes factual entertainment, documentary, dramatic and children’s programing. For more information visit www.mediahqs.net.
About Electus
Electus is the first integrated multimedia entertainment studio to unite producers, creators, advertisers and distributors under one roof and produce all forms of content for distribution across a variety of platforms around the world, including: broadcast, cable, digital, OTT and various emerging technologies. The company connects advertisers, distributors and content creators early on in the development process, enabling marketers and advertisers to be true partners in campaigns and content creation. Electus International, the global distribution arm of Electus, is responsible for all international sales and distribution for Electus’ programming and its studio partners as well as programs and formats from other well-known 3rd party providers. Electus is an operating business of IAC [NASDAQ: IAC]. For more information on Electus, visit www.electus.com.
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Contact:
Amanda Hebert
High10 Media