France 4 launches open up second TV Lab

French DTT channel France 4 has launched the second edition of its TV Lab formats competition and put out a call for innovative new projects.

The channel is looking for groundbreaking and inventive half-hour entertainment concepts targeting the 15-34 demographic and complemented by digital add-ons.

Run in in tandem with France Télévisions’ Nouvelles écritures (New writer] project, which is dedicated to the creation of new kinds of scripted and unscripted formats, the TV Lab competition is based on the EBU initiative of the same name.

The final selection will see six pilots produced and broadcast over three eveningson France 4, next June. A jury and the channel’s viewers will make the final choice on the winning format that France 4 will coproduce and broadcast.This competition is open to any author or director backed by a production company or a web agency. Unlike last year’s edition, this year’s contest will not have any age limits.

France 4’s strategy is to contribute to a regular amount of new formats as part of its new positioning, targeting the young generations, with programming for kids in daytime and young adults in primetime.”Our creative approach is also a reaction to the fact the French free-DTT TV landscape is made of 23 channels and offers little room for innovation,” said France 4 Head of programmes Tiphaine de Raguenel.

Candidates can apply on TV Lab website until January 7th and 20 projects will be selected between January 9th and 22th and then reduced to a roster of 12 projects.

On February 11th and 12^th 2015, the twelve teams will pitch their projects in front of a jury presided by former Canal+ CEO Pierre Lescure with members of France Télévisions and third-party radio and TV personalities. Adrien Aumont, co-founder of KissKissBankBank, will also be a judge as the crowd-funding platform is a TV Lab partner.

France Télévisions will invest €45,000 into the pilot of each of the six final projects compared with €30,000 last year. The choice between the last two projects will be based upon the audience reaction and the jury decision.

Created to denounce religious, media and political manipulation, last year’s winning project, Lazarus, from Black Moon, proved controversial when France 4 finally decided not produce the show. It has been developed as a 10x3mins web format.