Rise and Endemol Shine
CEO Sharon Levy brings new twists to fan-favorite reality shows. Next up: ‘Fear Factor’ and ‘Wipeout’
When NBC recently resurrected its long-dormant “Deal or No Deal,” it came with a new format: “Deal or No Deal Island.” The game show was originally a “shiny floor” in-studio contest where players had to guess how much money was inside a large briefcase. The updated iteration takes things outdoors, raising the stakes by adding interpersonal dynamics, physical challenges and survival to the mix.
At producer Endemol Shine North America, they call adding a fresh spin to existing IP the “ESNA twist.” And it’s become a hallmark for CEO Sharon Levy, who took over the shingle — part of Banijay Americas — a little more than a year ago.
“I’m not a fan of a straight-up reboot without a reason for being,” Levy says. “As much as I love making things, I love cracking them ahead of time. Looking in the catalog and asking, ‘What are we going to do with “Deal or No Deal”?’ Having this idea to set it on an island and make it a social competition was a crazy idea.”
The company also recently introduced “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” with lifestyle brand The Home Edit. Levy is awaiting word on a series order from ABC, which aired a pilot of the reworked reality show as a special last fall. Meanwhile, CBS has ordered new competition series “The Summit,” based on a format from sister Endemol Shine Australia. Add in returning series like Fox’s “Lego Masters” and the “Masterchef” franchise, and for the first time ever, ESNA has shows set up at all four broadcast networks.
“I’m lucky that I have a company that has such a great catalog,” Levy says. “We’re doing the same with some of our other IP as well.”
Indeed, next up, Variety can exclusively report that Levy and Endemol Shine are aiming to bring back completely reinvented versions of two more signature shows: “Fear Factor” and “Wipeout.”
“I am a huge horror fan,” Levy says of her “Fear Factor” reimagining. The original series put people in scary scenarios to win prizes. The revival will have a social experiment component, “using where we are in society and how crippled people are by fear — and how important it is to overcome that as a backbone,” she says. “We are looking at it completely differently than it has ever been done before.”
The same goes for “Wipeout,” which was most recently reinvented for TBS. The new version will lean further into the physical comedy space.
A veteran unscripted exec who’s had stints at Stone Stanley and Spike TV, Levy has also been ramping up Endemol Shine’s scripted fare — including Netflix’s upcoming “Ripley,” starring Andrew Scott — all with that ESNA twist.
“We had the rights to all the Tom Ripley books, and we were so fortunate to get [executive producer] Steve Zaillian, who is a huge, purist fan, to come on board,” she says. “Ripley” was originally set up at Showtime before heading to Netflix, where it premieres on April 4.
Levy’s scripted team, led by Lisa Fahrenholt, is also behind the upcoming HBO adaptation of “Like Water for Chocolate.” The production, shot in Mexico, is a collaboration between Endemol Shine North America and its Latin America-based sister Endemol Shine Boomdog, as well as Salma Hayek Pinault’s Ventanarosa shingle.
“You’ll see more of that,” Levy says of collaborating with Banijay siblings around the world. “We’re talking to one of our companies now, in New Zealand, about a big new project that we want to take out together. On the scripted side, it really does feel incredibly globally collaborative.”
Next up, Levy has her sights on selling a nonscripted series to Netflix. “That’s a personal goal of mine,” she says. “I knew it’d be a hard thing to take on the CEO title, but I’ve really enjoyed it. It just makes me want to do more, do better, be faster and more competitive.”
“As much as I love making things, I love cracking them ahead of time. Looking in the catalog and asking, ‘What are we going to do with “Deal or No Deal”?’” Sharon Levy