MUMBAI: There’s good news for Applause Entertainment, Madiba Entertainment and SonyLiv. The trio’s production Kafas, Dark Money India has been shortlisted amongst the finalists in the best scripted format category of The International Format Awards 2024. The awards are a coproduction between C21Media, FRAPA, the Entertainment Masterclass and Mipcom.

Kafas is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language drama series helmed by Sahil Sangha, starring Sharman Joshi, Mona Singh, Mikhail Gandhi, Tejasvi Singh Ahlawat, and Vivan Bathena. The show was produced by Applause along with Madiba Entertainment and is an official adaptation of the 2019  British mini-series Dark Money.  

The finalists were arrived at through an online voting process by a panel of the world’s leading format commissioners, buyers and producers.

The Applause and SonyLiv show has fierce competition in this category with the finalists being as follows:

Lunch Box
Produced by: S Productions
For: BEIN Drama, TOD, Al Nahar, SBC, Fujairah TV
Distributed by: NBCUniversal Formats

Kafas, Dark Money India
Produced by: Applause Entertainment in association with Madiba Entertainment. Original format by The Forge.
For: Sony LIV
Distributed by: All3Media International

NCIS: Sydney
Produced by: Endemol Shine Australia
For: CBS Studios, Paramount Australia
Distributed by: Paramount Global Content Distribution
 

Riviere Perdue
Produced by: Terence Films, Gétévé Productions
For: TF1
Distributed by: Banijay Entertainment
 

Second Chance, Thailand
Produced by: One 31
For: One 31 HD
Distributed by: NBCUniversal Formats
 

Suits Mongolia
Produced by: Mongol TV
For: Mongol TV
Distributed by: NBCUniversal Format

Kafas, Dark Money recently won the best TV adaptation (Scripted) Asia award at the Content Asia Awards.

Sadly, apart from this one show there are no other Indian programmes in the final lists in the various award categories like best brand driven format, best competition reality format, best comedy format, best factual entertainment format, best multi-platform format, best studio -based game show format, best returning format, best reality format, and best host of a format. Most of these categories have shows from Europe, the US, Australia, dominating the finalists’ lists.

The finalists, according to C21 Media, are as follows:

BEST BRAND-DRIVEN FORMAT

Big Brother – Knossi Edition
Produced by: Endemol Shine Germany, Banijay Media Germany
For: TheRealKnossi Twitch channel
Distributed by: Banijay Entertainment

Le grand chantier Rona (Rona’s Build It to Win It)
Produced by: Zone3
For: Noovo
Distributed by: Zone3 International

HairStyle
Produced by: Shine Iberia (Banijay Group)
For: Discovery-Rakuten
Distributed by: Shine Iberia (Banijay Group)

Poker Society
Produced by: Dreamspark
For: Winamax YouTube channel
Distributed by: Dreamspark

Scarman
Produced by: Heroes Formats
For: Megogo
Distributed by: Megogo

BEST COMPETITION REALITY FORMAT

Deal or No Deal Island
Produced by: Endemol Shine North America
For: NBC
Distributed by: Banijay Entertainment

Double the Money
Produced by: South Shore Productions
For: Channel 4
Distributed by: ITV Studios

Squid Game: The Challenge
Produced by: Studio Lambert, The Garden
For: Netflix
Distributed by: Netflix

The Fortune Hotel
Produced by: Tuesday’s Child
For: ITV1
Distributed by: Banijay Entertainment

The GOAT
Produced by: Propagate Content, The Year of Elan Production, Piece of Work, Amazon MGM Studios
For: Amazon Freevee
Distributed by: MGM, Propagate Content

The Power
Produced by: Studio 89 and Dreamspark
For: W9
Distributed by: M6 Formats

BEST COMEDY FORMAT

After Midnight
Produced by: CBS Studios with Stephen Colbert’s Spartina Industries, Funny Or Die
For: CBS
Distributed by: Paramount Global Content Distribution

Comedy Match
Produced by: Banijay Italia
For: Discovery+ (VoD),Nove (linear)
Distributed by: Banijay Entertainment

Freeze: Portugal
Produced by: Fremantle
For: TVI
Distributed by: Fremantle

Last One Laughing: Colombia
Produced by: Banijay Mexico and US Hispanic
For: Amazon Prime Video
Distributed by: Amazon Prime Video

No Strings Attached
Produced by: Cuarzo Producciones
For: Atres Premium Player
Distributed by: Banijay Entertainment

Roast on the Coast
Produced by: Metronome Denmark
For: Amazon Prime Video
Distributed by: Banijay Entertainment

BEST FACTUAL ENTERTAINMENT FORMAT

Banged Up
Produced by: Shine TV
For: Channel 4
Distributed by: Banijay Entertainment

How to Be Old
Produced by: Woestijnvis
For: Play 4, GoPlay
Distributed by: Primitives

I Was Actually There
Produced by: Docker Media
For: ABC (Australia)
Distributed by: ABC Commercial

Living Library
Produced by: Mediawan Skyhigh
For: NPO Zapp
Distributed by: Mediawan Rights

Maggie Beer’s Big Mission
Produced by: Artemis Media
For: ABC (Australia)
Distributed by: ABC Commercial

The Jury: Murder Trial
Produced by: ScreenDog Productions
For: Channel 4
Distributed by: Blue Ant Media

BEST MULTI-PLATFORM FORMAT

Big Brother – Knossi Edition
Produced by: Endemol Shine Germany, Banijay Media Germany, Rainer Laux Productions
For: TheRealKnossi Twitch channel
Distributed by: Banijay Entertainment

Itsatsita
Produced by: Pausoka
For: Instagram/TikTok
Distributed by: EITB Media

Meta Love
Produced by: TV Asahi corporation
For: TV Asahi corporation
Distributed by: TV Asahi corporation

Tu Cumpleaños Vale (Your Birthday Matters)
Produced by: Infiniito. Created by Degoas
For: Latina Televisión (Perú)
Distributed by: Murga

BEST STUDIO-BASED GAMESHOW FORMAT

Gone Producer
Produced by: Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation
For: Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation
Distributed by: Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation

Lovers or Liars?
Produced by: TBS Japan, North One Television
For: TBS Japan
Distributed by: All3Media International

Mental Masters
Produced by: Warner Bros. International Television Production Spain
For: Telecinco (Mediaset España)
Distributed by: Warner Bros. International Television Production

Raid the Cage, US
Produced by: Sony Pictures Television, United Studios, Two Shakes Entertainment
For: CBS
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Television

Drei gegen Einen: Die Show der Champions (Three are the Champions)
Produced by: Endemol Shine Germany
For: RTL
Distributed by: Banijay Entertainment

Upside Down
Produced by: Endemol Shine Nederland
For: Videoland
Distributed by: Banijay Entertainment

BEST RETURNING FORMAT

Married at First Sight, Australia
Produced by: Endemol Shine Australia
For: Nine Network
Distributed by: Seven.One Studios International

The 1% Club
Produced by: Magnum Media
For: ITV1
Distributed by: BBC Studios

The Great Bake Off
Produced by: Love Productions
For: Channel 4
Distributed by: BBC Studios

The Mole
Produced by: Eureka Productions
For: Netflix
Distributed by: Primitives

The Summit
Produced by: Endemol Shine Australia
For: Nine Network
Distributed by: Banijay Entertainment

The Traitors (UK)
Produced by: Studio Lambert. Original format by IDTV and RTL
For: BBC One
Distributed by: All3Media International

BEST REALITY FORMAT

I Kissed a Girl
Produced by: Twofour
For: BBC Three
Distributed by: ITV Studios

Amore Alla Prova – La Crisi Del Settimo Anno (Seven Year Switch, Italy)
Produced by: Banijay Italia
For: Discovery+/Realtime
Distributed by: A+E Media Group

Temptation Island México
Produced by: Banijay Mexico and US Hispanic
For: Amazon Prime Video
Distributed by: Amazon Prime Video

The Assembly
Produced by: Bargoens
For: VTM
Distributed by: Be-Entertainment

The Expedition: Greenland
Produced by: Roses are Blue
For: Play4
Distributed by: Primitives

The Underdog: Josh Must Win
Produced by: Primal Media, part of STV Studios
For: E4
Distributed by: All3Media International

BEST HOST OF A FORMAT

Alan Cumming (The Traitors US)
Produced by: Studio Lambert. Original format by IDTV and RTL
For: Peacock
Distributed by: All3Media International

Big Zuu (Big Zuu’s 12 Dishes in 12 Hours)
Produced by: Twofour, Big Productions
For: ITV1
Distributed by: ITV Studios

Jimmy Kimmel (Who Wants to be a Millionaire? US)
Produced by: Sony Pictures Television’s Embassy Row, Kimmelot
For: ABC (US)
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Television

Maggie Beer (Maggie Beer’s Big Mission)
Produced by: Artemis Media
For: ABC (Australia)
Distributed by: ABC Commercial

Stephen Fry (Jeopardy UK)
Produced by: Whisper North
For: ITV
Distributed by: Paramount Global Content Distribution

Valerio Lundini (The Fixer)
Produced by: Rai, Stand By Me
For: RaiPlay
Distributed by: Stand By Me

The awards are to be presented between 17.00 and 19.00 on Sunday 20 October  at ClubC21 on the beach in Cannes.

Banijay Rights CEO Cathy Payne is to be presented with the 2024 International Formats business gold award during the ceremony.