Talpa Studios and Novy recently co-produced the Ukrainian version of new gameshow format The Floor. This production is a unique Dutch-Ukrainian collaboration uniting teams from both companies in an initiative designed to help the Ukrainian TV industry. The result of this unique partnership will be seen in the spring of 2024 when Novy will premiere The Floor in Ukraine.

Olena Antonova, Head of Creative Studio Starlight Production, and Sasha Tkachenko, Head of Scripted at Novy, were happy to share details on their partnership with Talpa Studios and how the whole project was organized and finally realized with Ukrainian contestants in the Dutch TV studios. Georgi R. Chakarov also asked about Novy's plans for the spring season and the role television plays as a source of entertainment in a country fighting a war for its survival.


You recently announced a co-production with Talpa Studios for the adaptation of the successful format The Floor. Could you tell us more about this collaboration?

Olena: As you know, in less than a year, The Floor has secured commissions of local versions in 10 countries, aside from Ukraine, entering key markets like the USA, Spain, France, Germany, Italy and The Netherlands.

At the beginning of the year, our former colleague Maryna Chykalovets joined Talpa Studios' Global Distribution team. When John De Mol and his team heard Maryna explain how the people in Ukraine craved new entertainment as a temporary distraction from the war, they were touched by the story and decided to support the Ukrainian television industry by doing what they do best: making great entertainment shows.

Ukraine has always been a frontrunner in locally producing formats such as The Voice, I Love My Country and Dating in the Dark - shows they had a key role in developing. So, when Talpa Studios approached us about making a co-production at their hub location in the Netherlands, we knew it would work out great. Talpa Studios produced the show, together with the support of local partners who also wanted to contribute to it.

From the start of the cooperation, the focus was to offer a distraction by bringing The Floor to Ukraine and contributing to the positive well-being of Ukrainian viewers. For Talpa Studios it was essential to support the Ukrainians who temporarily live in the Netherlands and the Ukrainian TV industry, especially those who remain in the Ukraine without jobs.

Talpa Studios and Starlight Production joined forces for The Floor, with the Ukrainian team managing the editorial part and casting selection and the Dutch team providing the casting search and production service in their hub location in Studio Baarn in the Netherlands with the entire technical support, and production crew and logistics on the ground.

The Dutch team already had experience producing two seasons of The Floor Netherlands and the first season of The Floor Germany. But it was all new for the Ukrainian team. What's especially remarkable about it all is that the Ukrainian team worked offline and online from Ukraine, Poland, and other countries.


How big was the Ukrainian team?

Olena: The Ukrainian team consisted of five casting managers, a chief editor, five editors, two producers, designers based in Ukraine, and a creative producer abroad. We brought a team of seven people to the Netherlands, together with the show's host, for the recordings.


Did the production process go smoothly, considering it was a mixed Dutch-Ukrainian crew?

Olena: Talpa Studios was initially concerned that we might be unable to make it within that short pre-production period, but we managed to synchronize everything from the start, and the production process went smoothly. Talpa Studios' hub proposition and the extensive experience of their local team made it easy to adapt the format to a local version for Ukraine.

We only had two months to prepare for the shoot, cast the contestants, select the presenter, prepare the questions and work on the design. The recordings took us three shooting days: during the first one, we shot three episodes; on the second day – five episodes; and on the third day – four episodes. It was also a novelty for Talpa Studios to shoot five episodes in one day. The combination of a skilled team and a hub proposition designed for flexibility played a vital role in the success of this co-production - it ensured that we met our ambitious goals within a tight timeframe.


How do you plan to schedule the show?

Sasha: We will exclusively premiere The Floor in the spring of 2024 in Novy's primetime weekly.


Why did you choose The Floor, and what elements do you think will make it attractive to Ukrainian viewers?

The primary factor was the show's success in other markets. Novy is well known to the viewers for its quiz shows, with 11 seasons of Battle of the Sexes and our recent success with Family Feud, which will also get a second season. Once Talpa Studios initiated a cooperation on making this new successful quiz show, The Floor, we knew it might become our next big hit. Another factor was the unique proposal to do an international co-production in the Netherlands with the Ukrainians who have taken shelter there.


Are you working on other projects with Talpa Studios?

Sasha: We are in close contact with each other and are currently discussing the possibilities of an exciting opportunity for a new original Ukrainian format we're working on.


How important is it for you to continue to create entertainment formats in times of war? What is the acceptance among viewers of this content, bearing in mind the results of the fall season on Novy?

Sasha: As our defenders say, "We are fighting here so that our citizens can continue to live and keep supporting us." The response on TV and social media after Novy's last fall season broadcast was unprecedented. Viewers thanked us for providing our form of entertainment. It became a beacon of hope for a bright future. For our fellow citizens who found shelter in other countries, it was a chance to feel at home again. Our defenders also like watching our content, especially Battle of the Sexes and sketch shows. In each episode, we thank the defenders who make our work possible.

Last fall, both the scripted and non-scripted programming had excellent results on Novy. The quiz shows worked well; we also had sketch shows and scripted comedies. We try to touch upon the topic of war, but we can't afford to experiment too much. We tried it in the sketch comedy Connected, which turned into a great success with above-average results for the channel, and it broke records online with TikTok generating 3.5 million views for the series.


What are your plans for the spring season?

Sasha: First of all, we will have The Floor Ukraine. We also have another new show, which we bought from Fremantle. We are currently busy with its pre-production. Of course, we are producing a second season of Family Feud, another Fremantle format, and we will return with our hit sitcom House for Happiness with its fifth season.


How has the situation on the TV market changed two years into the war? How have the budgets changed? How do you adapt to this extreme situation?

Sasha: The budgets have certainly gone down, but our strength as Ukrainians has been to adapt. We started shooting more episodes per day, but of course, we had to adapt to the air alerts, which forced us to stop shooting and go to the bomb shelters. We also introduced technological changes, which can be best seen in the Connected episodes.

Olena: In the first three months, everything came to a complete stop, but when we resumed, and in the winter, the Russians started attacking our electricity system, we had to adapt not only to the air alerts but also to the blackouts. We didn't know when the electricity would be back, so we had to be ready to work at any time of the day or night. So, at around 3:00 am, if the electricity was on, we would wake up and start working because when there is light, there is the Internet, and then you can send and receive e-mails and hold Zoom meetings - we had no idea when the electricity would disappear again.

Also, on the first day of shooting Battle of the Sexes, the Russians blew up the Kakhovka HPP, and our director's apartment was flooded. When our presenter heard about it, she burst into tears, and we had to calm her down because she needed to come out on stage…

Now, when I remember that moment, tears start coming out from my eyes; it was tough for me… she then fixed her make-up and said, "I have to do this because people are waiting to be entertained," so in a few minutes she was up there shining and laughing, focusing on the job.

Sasha: I also want to add something important. Some of our international partners now feel pity for Ukrainians, but we don't need that; we need a chance to continue working, as we did in the co-production with Talpa Studios. We are even working on bringing international professionals to Ukraine, where they can shoot safely. We shall endure, and we will keep filming and creating content that will be watched by millions.

Olena: As a whole, not only in Ukraine, our industry is changing, and we are all facing exciting challenges, so we all have to adapt.