MIPCOM 2023: yes Studios launches a new factual title, "Lifeline"

yes Studios will be launching "Lifeline", its second major factual title, at MIPCOM this year. Available as either a four-hour or eight half-hour series and 1 x74 feature - plus a format -the title is moving new programme that takes audiences behind the scenes at a helpline centre receiving calls on all manner of subjects from family violence and heartbreak to loneliness and suicidal thoughts.

With exclusive first-time access to the ERAN Association (Emotional First Aid) in Israel, the intimate, single-camera series follows the actual volunteers - all highly trained professionals - who receive the calls, while actors (to preserve anonymity) improvise off notes from selected real cases to bring dramatic stories alive.

"Lifeline" is produced by yes Docu and Endemol Shine Israel for yes TV and directed by Golan Rise and Sharon Yaish. The executive producers are Guy Lavie and Keren Gleicher. yes Studios represents the completed series’, feature, and format worldwide.

Sharon Levi, managing director at yes Studios comments: “'Lifeline' is a remarkable series, allowing viewers to sit right alongside volunteers for a privileged glimpse into the lives of these incredible people and the distressed callers they try to help. Relying solely on the voice on the line and the face and actions of the volunteer, these true stories successfully grip from the outset and keep you in suspense through their various twists and turns with surprise, shock, tears and relief all likely viewer outcomes from each of the narratives. Programming that explores mental health issues is of great interest at present so we are pleased not only to have a new take on a topical subject but to also bring series of different lengths as well as a feature option to the market, allowing buyers to choose the version that will work best for their viewers.”

Levi continues: “As a factual format, Lifeline’s strength is that it covers both universal and culturally specific problems and can be readily replicated at any helpline office around the globe. This deeply personal world is rarely seen on screen in documentary, but by using actors to preserve anonymity, broadcasters everywhere can allow audiences to eavesdrop on the detail of conversations they would never otherwise hear and, perhaps, even help address some of their own problems at the same time.”