Spacecraft TV launches on 01 November, with a catalogue of 14 original television formats across the genres of Reality, Gameshow, Event and Factual programming. Based in London, the company will focus on distributing its content to the international TV market, and working with partner producers and broadcasters in developing bespoke multiplatform IP worldwide.
To mark its launch, Spacecraft is running a competition on its website spacecraft.tv based on the mechanic from its original gameshow Either/Or. The competition is open to anyone working in the TV/entertainment industry, with the prizes being: (1) a six-month Option on any format in the Spacecraft catalogue; and (2) a six-month First-Look Deal comprising all existing and new Spacecraft formats. Winners will be announced on 08 December.
Co-founder Carl Richter said: "Because of our backgrounds in social media and gaming, we're approaching the TV content market from a slightly different angle. Rather than bolting on social media applications to existing TV concepts, we've been concentrating on building our IP the other way around."
One illustration of this can be seen in the stripped food format Out To Lunch, a restaurant competition harnessing the full power of social media. Every day, two restaurants must provide set menus for 50 diners on a fixed budget. The locations are secret, until posted on Twitter, when locals have the chance to win a free lunch and participate as competition judges.
Similarly, Either/Or is a gameshow that was developed first as a smartphone and social media application. "Successful apps must have strong and simple visual concepts", Richter adds. "They're also much cheaper to test and develop than traditional TV pilots. Our philosophy is that once we've got the application working, it becomes the heart of a much bigger concept for TV."
Following preliminary meetings at MIPCOM, Spacecraft will be announcing its first deals soon.
Carl Richter
Co-Founder
Spacecraft TV | @spacecraftTV
