Banijay unveils global accelerator program for female-led format creation

Banijay Launch

Banijay has launched a global accelerator program led by Endemol Shine North America’s Sharon Levy that aims to support women creators with unscripted formats.

Banijay Launch aims to help discover and incubate untapped female talent, with Levy and Banijay development chief James Townley working together to source and pitch new format ideas.

The scheme has been inspired by the Propelle program, a female-focused accelerator initiative created and developed in 2020 by Everywoman Studios’ CEO, Abby Greensfelder.

Levy and Endemol Shine North America partnered for two years on the scheme, and Greensfelder consulted on the creation of Banijay Launch and will join the judging panel for the initiative’s inaugural year.

To support the program, Banijay Americas has commissioned a study with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media to investigate women’s inclusion in creative leadership roles in unscripted production across Brazil, the UK and US, and one EU territory to be determined.

The scheme, which is open now, will see between three and five finalists mentored by a local creative to develop their formats, with the aim of nurturing them to screen. There will then be a live pitch presentation before a judging panel led by Levy and Townley.

Levy said the aim of the scheme is to “welcome women creators who may be struggling to have their voices heard, setting a new narrative for the industry, and fostering the next generation of break-out unscripted formats.”

Marco Bassetti, CEO at Banijay, added: “We are proud at Banijay to have over 50% of our managerial positions globally filled by women. However, we recognise the landscape has not always supported this demographic of creators in breaking through.

With Banijay Launch, we are vested in spearheading a raft of new unscripted format ideas, ideated by women, and in doing so, we hope to bring new voices and talent to the market, with the potential of creating the next Survivor, MasterChef or Big Brother.”