Hunan TV International Biu Project Content Creation Brief - Pact

Hunan TV International Biu Project
Content Creation Brief
2020

ABOUT HUNAN TV

Hunan TV is a renowned entertainment content producer and broadcaster based
in Changsha, China. Boasting almost 30 in-house production studios and teams, it
has successfully maintained a leading position in the Chinese television market for
over 22 consecutive years in terms of both ratings and advertising revenues.

The channel is female-skewing, targeting younger audiences of the nation with
under the 23-year-olds demo at its center of gravity and also broader appeal to
family viewers. Just like its tagline, Happy China, Hunan TV strives to convey
positive values and uplifting messages to the public through its passion for creating
fun, innovative and often buzz-worthy content.

We have been proactively exploring non-scripted format co-development
opportunities with global partners, including industry giants as well as smaller
indies, sourcing stand-out ideas and projects from around the world. By expanding
Biu Project, a successful internal practice of content incubation and pilot
production system, to the international level, and partnering for the 2020
MIPFormats International Pitch competition, we aim to find the next big thing both
for China and the international markets. With our dedicated production support
and full investment in place, a golden idea is all that matters.

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR

We are on the hunt for the next big hit that can set new trends in Chinese TV and
has the potential to travel internationally as a format. With the premier goal to
launch on Hunan TV's weekend slots, 8pm or 10pm, and achieve success in China's
highly competitive market, we will focus on stand-out non-scripted format ideas
that are fresh new, entertaining, youth-skewing but also have broad appeal. Be
aware of the channel's weekend scheduling, that is typically 75 to 90 minutes in
episode length and 10 to 12 episodes per series, which should be reflected in the
format structure or the overarching storyline in your format proposal.

Weekend entertainment shows have always been at the heart of Hunan TV. 8pm
primetime slots are usually occupied by big and iconic studio-based entertainment
formats, like the groundbreaking musical crossover singing talent show Super-
Vocal and the multiple award-winning celebrity voice-acting reality competition The
Sound. We also have out of studio experiential realities for this slot, but more often,
10pm slots, where celebrities take on real-life challenges with an overall exciting,
escapist and heartwarming tone, such as running a dinner business in foreign
countries as in Chinese Restaurant and operating an Airbnb-style property in
scenery little towns as in The Inn. In the past, local adaptations of big international
formats, including Strictly Come Dancing, Saturday Night Takeaway, X Factor, I'm a
Singer, Dad Where Are We Going, and, the global version of the Got Talent
franchise earlier this year, World's Got Talent, were all scheduled on our Friday or
Saturday nights. However, don't be limited by what we have done in the past,
Hunan TV is committed to content innovation.

Making the Next Big Stars
Our key story over the past year was the search for new areas with a higher purpose
of making China's next big stars for younger generations. By tapping into
overlooked, underexploited, sometimes, forgotten subject matters, we create a
new world for fandom, where viewers discover new stories and learn new passions.
We had satisfying success with Super-Vocal, for which opera music became trendy
and young classical singers rose to stardom. We have kept testing this theory
through multiple Biu Project pilots across different program genres, looking for idol

hopefuls from acting schools, classical dance groups, amateur sports clubs, and
even the handcrafting community. You will see several of these shows on our
screen in the coming months.

This has unavoidably become a recipe for success for other players in the market,
leading to recent talent shows of rappers, street dancers and rock bands, etc. When
the market becomes clustered, what else ideas and subjects can we explore? Is
there a different structure or mechanism to fresh things up? Who from what
backgrounds deserves a chance to shine and become a role model for today’s
younger people? we are certainly open to all genres and forms, not limited to the
traditional whittle-down style talent competition, to live up to our reputation as the
biggest star factory in the TV sector.

Big Names, New Journeys
Many weekend entertainment shows on Hunan TV are characterized by their
strong cast of celebrities. Unashamedly we excel in getting some of the biggest
names on our shows and even better in the range, scale and extent of content they
are willing to contribute. They help us build a solid cornerstone for attracting
viewership and increasing social media hype and we want to take this to the next
level.

We uncovered established artists' hidden talent of voice-acting in The Sound and
put music legends and pop stars in an incredibly serious singing competitive show
Singer. We documented their daily lives with private friends in Back to Filed and My
Little Ones, and put them in a pressure cooker running small businesses in Chinese
Restaurant and The Inn, with a reality touch, truthfully revealing their personality
and charm in the real world. Our audience enjoys being told a different story about
their favorite stars in aspirational and escapist situations with a comedic,
heartwarming and uplifting tone.

Think about new possibilities. Besides being a host, judge, or panel guest, what
other roles or functions they can play to make a shiny floor studio show distinctive?
What other challenges or journeys, professionally or privately, they can take on to
unfold new stories and get everyone talking? Under what circumstances, ordinary

people can interact with the famous and be an organic part of the exciting
adventure? However surprising, subversive or chaotic it might be, warmth,
relationships and a sense of fulfillment is at the heart.

Noisy, Ambitious and Innovative Formats
We love ideas that are built around an exciting and distinctive top line or concept
and we are never afraid of trying anything that feels too big or ambitious. We let
top millennial influencers compete to make the most creative and viral short videos
with smartphones across the country in Do-Re-Mi: I Love My City, and challenged
some of the nation's biggest artists to do a one-shot original live musical
performances in PhantaCity. Recently, we launched Sing or Spin, a brand new music
competition format featuring an iconic spinning stage where contestants have to
impress a panel of celebrity judges and perhaps even tougher critics in the audience.

Hunan TV will continue to innovate with big breakthrough entertainment formats
that are fun, surprising, participative and marketable, regardless of the genres and
forms. In fact, it can be a mixture of many things, such as studio variety plus on-
location reality, or comedic talent competition with a clever twist of gaming
element. Whatever the ideas, we are looking to entertain and lead the market.

A FEW HINTS AND TIPS

By sponsoring the MIPFormats International Pitch competition in 2020, we actually
hold the expectation to take one of the pitches on air next year, with a support
package put together for our winning participants, including cash prizes, a study
visit to China, a possible co-development deal subject to mutual agreement.
However, you shouldn’t be limited by the brief provided above in any way and
should submit the idea as long as you think it’s good enough.

For the first time, the MIPFormats International Pitch will be sponsored by a major
Chinese broadcaster. It is wise to do a bit research about China's media market,
learn about what has/hasn't been done, or what is/isn't encouraged due to possible
regulations and cultural factors. For instance, we are pretty cautious about using

eliminations in a talent show, particularly that involves singing competition
participated by ordinary people, or having minors on reality shows to avoid
potential negative impact on their personal lives. Additionally, our experiences
show that a few program genres and types that travel well internationally may not
necessarily work for us, including competitive cooking shows like MasterChef,
money-centered gameshow like The Wall, sexy dating reality like Love Island, etc.
But again, if you have something similar that you strongly believe in, we are happy
to hear from you and discuss how to get them right for Hunan TV. When it comes
to the competition in the same timeslots, it helps to refer to The Voice as a
benchmark.

We do believe content creation is a collaboration process that requires joint effort
and hard work together, therefore we do not expect to receive all fully polished
and ready-made formats and proposals through the International Biu Project or the
MIPFormats International Pitch in 2020. As long as we see the potential, we are
willing to work together to shape the format and refine its tone until that's right
for us. Nevertheless, if you have access to existing formats from around the world
that you think fits Hunan TV’s content creation brief, we will be interested in talking
about how we can work together and further develop the concepts with us.

EAST, WEST, BEST OF THE BEST. May the best idea win! Good luck.

Please follow https://www.mipformats.com for news on 2020 MIPFormats
International Pitch.

For further questions, please contact the international business team at Hunan TV,
or email us via international@hunantv.com.