Sparks Network


UK broadcaster ‘sniffing Japanese gameshow’

UK indie Zig Zag Productions has acquired local rights to a Japanese gameshow and is in “negotiations with a UK broadcaster” to bring the show to British screens. Zig Zag is among four companies to pick up Ultimate Brain from Eccho Rights, the sister sales firm to Spark Network, of which the UK producer is […]

Eccho Rights opens base in Turkey

Eccho Rights has been a vocal proponent of the Turkish drama genre and is now consolidating that faith by launching a base in Istanbul. The Scandinavian-based distributor, part of the Sparks Eccho group, has appointed Turkish television veteran Handan Özkubat in to run the new office, which will sit alongside Eccho Rights’ bases in Stockholm […]

New French prodco joins Sparks Network

French producer Coyote has become the newest member of global indies alliance Sparks Networks. France’s previous member was Elephant & Cie but under the Sparks Network model only allows for one producer per territory in at one time. Coyote launched back in 1989 when French producer and presenter Christophe Dechavanne joined forces with Fabrice Bonanno. […]

Jobs Without Frontiers heads to US, Oz

Beyond Productions has scored a deal with distributor Eccho Rights to take factual entertainment format Jobs Without Frontiers into the US and Australia. The format sees four colleagues travel to new countries to carry out their jobs in a completely new environment for a week. It comes from Belgium’s Sputnik, which is a member of […]

Zig Zag options show from Jack Black prodco

UK independent producer and distributor Zig Zag has taken options on three shows including one from Electric Dynamite, the production company of Hollywood star Jack Black. Zig Zag brokered the deal through Sparks Network, the formats distribution alliance that represents Electric Dynamite formats internationally. The shows in question is gameshow Hide and Seek from Electric […]

Denmark’s Mastiff buys Japanese gameshow format

Danish producer Mastiff has acquired rights to Japanese gameshow Exit from vendor Eccho Rights. The entertainment format comes from Japanese producer Kenichiro Akiyama and has broadcast in the territory on Nippon Television for three seasons. The format sees teams of contestants take on mental and physical challenges against the clock to escape from locked rooms. […]

Nordic World ties up Scandi trio

Scandi sales alliance Nordic World has scored exclusive distribution deals with a trio of local producers. Among the deals, Nordic World has taken on worldwide representation of Swedish prodco OTW Television’s catalogue and formats, snatching them from Sparks Network (aka Eccho Rights), of which OTW was previously a member. OTW, part of Scandinavian media group […]

East meets West as Japan opens its Treasure Box

The double whammy effect of not importing formats and lengthy primetimes filled with original shows means Japanese broadcasters are prolific producers of entertainment series. Takeshi’s Castle, Dragon’s Den, America’s Funniest Home Videos and Iron Chef are huge properties that originated in Japan, but the number of hit international formats is small in proportion to the […]

Eccho’s Exit travels across Europe

A raft of European versions of Japanese gameshow Exit are to be produced after Eccho Rights struck a number of option deals. The gameshow, which originally launched in Nippon Television in Japan, has been optioned by All3Media-owned German production company MME Entertainment, French production company Elephant Group, Channel Peretz in Russia and OWT in Sweden. […]