ORANGE SMARTY LAUNCHES A NEW SLATE OF FACTUAL CONTENT FOR MIP BUYERS

Orange Smarty is showing 175 hours of new factual programming for MIPTV buyers in the new MIPTV Online+ that is taking place from March 30 to April 2. The new slate covers the feel-good spectrum, from cheeky toddlers to naughty cats, via perfect properties, pilgrims — and pubic hair.

Karen Young, founder and CEO of Orange Smarty, said: “There’s been a lot of talk about how COVID-19 is proving a boon for distributors, the perception being that broadcasters will take any old show to fill the holes that have suddenly appeared in schedules. Wrong. We’re working closely with our broadcast partners to help curate and package shows across genres, from feel-good to family to factual, to ensure that audiences suffer no drop in the quality of their entertainment during these incredibly challenging times. That not only requires laser-sharp marketing but a real knowledge of our clients’ strengths, needs and positioning. We believe our new titles will help in that effort by delivering shows that keep broadcasters relevant — and the nation smiling.”

Highlights include ASC Media/TVNZ’s "Living With The Boss", a fun yet informative series and format in which employees invite the boss to stay in a bid to forge a personal connection and improve their working lives.

Work of a different kind is the focus of Yeti’s "The Wedding Guru". Commissioned by BBC Two Wales, the comedic documentary follows Onkar Singh Purewal, the self-styled “greatest event manager the world has ever seen”.

More fun and information is on offer in the second season of One Tribe/BBC One’s "Dirty Vegan", in which Dirty Sanchez frontman Matt Pritchard, now an ultra-athlete and chef, cooks up “banging” vegan recipes.

The home front is represented by series 13 of Channel 4’s evergreen property-search series "A Place In The Sun", produced by Freeform Productions; while family life is put under the microscope in Sky Atlantic’s powerful four-parter "This Is Our Family". Primal Media’s "Home Free", meanwhile, is a heartwarming account of young people with learning disabilities who are leaving home for the first time.

For uncomplicated fun GooWoo Media/Channel 5’s "Naughty Toddlers Caught On Camera" and "Naughty Cats On Camera" deliver exactly what they promise. More thoughtful but no less entertaining is Milk and Honey/Channel 4’s "Bring Back The Bush: Where Did Our Pubic Hair Go?", which examines society fixation with unnaturally hairless bodies; and Jaffle Media/Channel 9’s "Giving Life", which tells the inspiring stories of those whose lives have been saved — and who have saved lives — as a result of blood donation.

A third season of CTVC/BBC "Two’s poplar Pilgrimage" series is also making its debut. The Road to Istanbul follows a group of famous faces, including lapsed Jew Edwina Currie, Christian Fatima Whitbread, Muslim Amar Laif and atheist Dom Joly, on an uplifting modern-day pilgrimage that sees them question both their lives and their faiths.