Talpa expands its reality formats department with two appointments

Talpa is investing in the development and production of adventure reality formats with the appointment of two genre specialists, Geraldine Smink and Wim van Dam, who was one of the co-creators of "Million Dollar Island". While that show is successfully traveling the globe, Talpa has just finished recording its next big adventure reality show in Africa which is set to air in 2024 in The Netherlands, on SBS6.

Smink has spent the last fifteen years as an executive producer for Strix/Monday Media focusing on factual, survival and reality shows. Van Dam has more than made his mark in producing various adventure reality shows, such as "Survivor" for over 15 years. Smink said: “I’ve been working with Wim for years. It’s wonderful to now have our own adventure reality department within Talpa, an environment where everything is possible, and we can create content beyond compare.”

CREATIVE PARTNERSHIPS
The adventure reality show "Million Dollar Island" is the result of a creative partnership with Monday Media. It’s a highlight of Talpa’s most impactful collaborations to date. The second season of "Million Dollar Island" just finished in the Netherlands on SBS6 and Amazon Prime, in co-production with Flanders, where the show launched on VTM and Streamz. The format is already on air in Australia and the Middle East & North Africa.

Maarten Meijs, CEO Talpa: “Talpa is an open creative network and with the expansion into Adventure Reality entity, we can further grow our offering across this genre and showcase our international production capability as well as welcoming new concepts to bolster our creative partnerships.” He adds: “At the moment, a third of our formats originate from creative partnerships. With an ever-growing demand for content, we’re looking to team up with creative parties throughout the global industry who want the same thing that we want: to develop exciting new formats and see them hit the screens around the world.”