Banijay paints new Danish, US deals for arts formats
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Editor
| 22 January 2019

The leading distribution arm of Banijay Group, Banijay Rights, has secured new deals for hit factual format brands, Portrait Artist of the Year and Landscape Artist of the Year.

The long-running ratings-winning competition series seeks the most talented artists and following the ratings success of season one, Portrait Artist of the Year has been recommissioned for a brand-new second season by Danish public broadcaster DR1. The 6 x 60’ series is produced by Banijay Group’s Mastiff Denmark and began airing this month. Locally known as Danmarks Bedste Portraetmaler, Portrait Artist of the Year was originally produced by Storyvault Films for Sky Arts.

More than 70 episodes of the Storyvault Films’ award-winning UK programmes have been produced over nine series so far. In the US, NBC Universal’s digital service, Bluprint, the destination for lifestyle learning formerly known as Craftsy Unlimited, also recently picked up secondary rights in the US to seasons one and two of Portrait Artist of the Year following its premier on American arts network Ovation TV.

The news comes on the back of the recently announced commission of Landscape Artist of the Year (LAOTY) by Blue Ant Media, which will see one talented competitor crowned Canada’s Landscape Artist of the Year. As a group of painters take on different landscape painting challenges, which showcase their unique artistic talents, expert judges circulate among them, assessing their talents and skills. Each week a winner will be chosen to progress to the semi-final. Time-lapse segments ensure viewers do not miss a moment in each artist’s thoughtful and creative progression from blank canvas to finished work. The Canadian version of Landscape Artist of the Year will be modelled on the original UK format.

Banijay Rights holds international distribution rights for both format and finished tape for Portrait Artist of the Year and Landscape Artist of the Year.

“Portrait Artist of the Year and Landscape Artist of the Year deliver hugely entertaining viewing that has proven to work as well on mainstream terrestrial channels as it does on genre-specific digital platforms,” commented Andreas Lemos, vice president of sales (North America) and acquisitions at Banijay Rights. “We’re delighted to see this fantastically adaptable format is consistently recommissioned alongside its continuing success as a finished programme and look forward to it delivering more artistic inspiration - all wrapped up in a gripping competition - to new viewers around the world.”