Independent U.K. broadcaster Channel X has teamed with French production company Moi j’aime la television (I love television) to launch a new joint venture dubbed Nice One. Set to debut at next week’s MIP-TV in Cannes, the company will be devoted to producing animated and live-action series aimed squarely at European viewers ages 15 to 34.
Nice One is the brainchild of Alan Marke and Jim Reid of Channel X, and Phil Ox from Moi j’aime la television. Reid will serve as director of business development, Marke will be creative director and Ox will hold the post of director of programs. With offices in Paris, London and Madrid, the company already has three projects in development and plans to give them a ‘multi-cultural touch.’
‘There’s a gap for exciting European TV aimed at young adults and we intend to fill it,’ Ox comments. ‘We know how to produce shows that can travel, and we have a whole raft of ideas ready for development.’
“Nice One is our way to open the doors to the young generation of creative talent emerging in Europe,’ adds Reid. ‘We want to compete with U.S. imports by generating European TV series which are as tightly scripted and packed with ideas’it’s the most exciting challenge in television.’
Channel X and Moi j’aime la television previously collaborated on the controversial animated sitcom Popetown, which was banned by the BBC but has sold across Europe, Australia and the Americas. The two entities will also continue to work independently on their own projects. Channel X is finishing a sitcom pilot for BBC3, while Moi j’aime la television delivers the second season of the family sitcom Genie in the House to Nickelodeon U.K.
Among the three projects in development at Nice One is a second season of Popetown, which is set in a fantasy version of the Vatican and revolves around a demented Pope who is mentally eight years old. French cable channel MCM has already signed on for another round of episodes. The first season was also picked up by MTV Germany, Fox Comedy Australia and MTV Latin America, among others.
‘Popetown has been incredibly successful considering it hasn’t even been shown in the U.K. yet,’ says Marke. ‘Fortunately for us, most Catholic countries got the joke. We’ve had lovely reviews in Le Monde, a massive audience in Germany and our broadcasters have been enjoying South Park-like audience reaction across a wide spectrum of markets from Russia to South America.’
The other two Nice One projects are scripted live-action shows titled Modeling for Beginners and Med School. For more information on these programs and the studio in general, go to www.niceonestudios.com.
