Critical Content’s Jenny Daly Talks NPACT Partnership

Jenny Daly’s production outfit Critical Content, behind hit formats such as the long-running Catfish, Great Food Truck Race and the Emmy Award-winning Instant Dream Home, recently struck up a partnership with NPACT, the trade association representing U.S.-based nonfiction production companies. The pact gives members an international pipeline for formats.

“I have been on the executive committee board for many years and, based on that relationship and knowing many of the members, I felt that the NPACT community would be great partners to bring fresh untapped formats to the international market,” Daly tells TV Formats.

For Critical Content, the partnership allows it access to a pool of seasoned producers that can deliver new formats to take out to its international partners. It will strengthen cross-border storytelling by connecting NPACT’s members with its global network of first-look partners, including Dubai’s Blue Engine Studios, Germany’s LEONINE Studios, Australia’s Warner Bros. International Television Production Australia, Korea’s Something Special, Singapore’s Refinery Media, Belgium’s Be-Entertainment and France’s ITV Studios France. “And it gives NPACT producers an easy portal to funnel their content to the international market,” Daly explains. “Many do not have that type of streamlined access or relationships with international buyers.”

Daly adds that these types of collaborations and partnerships are important in the international landscape “because they allow more avenues to sell to buyers outside of the U.S., and it also brings the upside of IP ownership.”

Looking at the broader entertainment landscape, Daly sees a marked appetite for formats that “can be universal—from shiny-floor game to lifestyle to dating.”

Critical Content is working on a number of formats that have had long-running success. The key to this, according to Daly, is to “keep the content exciting and captivating enough for dedicated viewers to stay engaged and invested.

“There must be a familiarity from season to season, such as a host, that the viewers connect with and want to keep coming back to,” she continues. “The casting is a big component as well. Each new season or episode needs to feature individuals who are relatable and fun to watch.”

She adds to this the importance of bringing in new twists, gameplay or elements to “keep it fresh and not feeling redundant.”

The U.S. market is notoriously tough to crack, but Daly’s advice for producers working in this market or distributors trying to land a show with an American network is: “If you don’t have direct relationships with the buyers, then partner with people that do and ones that have similar creative minds.”