Format

One of the most anticipated moments at Content Europe in Lisbon (Hotel Marriott, April 21-23, 2026) was the formats pitch competition dedicated to discovering the next big entertainment idea. This year’s inaugural edition of the Global Entertainment Formats Pitch was won by a concept developed by a French production company.
The winning project, Fluent in 40, comes from Wonder Circuit and triumphed over seven other finalists in a highly competitive contest.

The travel competition format follows contestants who are dropped into France with a single mission: to become as fluent as possible in French within 40 days. During the challenge, participants must complete immersive real-life tasks such as working a shift in a busy café or performing during a karaoke night. At the end of the journey, the contestant showing the greatest transformation wins a cash prize and an extended stay in France, while weaker performers are progressively eliminated throughout the season.
During the presentation, creator Lenna Bauerly explained that Fluent in 40 has been conceived as a scalable global format that could easily be adapted to different countries and languages.

The competition focused on three key genres: primetime entertainment, reality and social experiment, and factual entertainment. The judging panel included Jasper Hoogendoorn, Talpa Studios; Sumi Connock of BBC Studios; Niklas Vestberg of TV4; Nathalie Wogue; and Niklas Vargö of Warner Bros. Discovery.

As part of the prize, Wonder Circuit will secure a development deal with sponsor Talpa Studios, which will collaborate on further developing the format. The company will also receive £20,000 worth of promotional support across C21’s digital, print and live event platforms to assist development and pre-sales efforts.

Commenting on the result, Hoogendoorn said Talpa Studios is constantly looking for strong new ideas and partners capable of creating future hit formats. After reviewing all eight finalists, the company identified Fluent in 40 as the concept with the strongest international potential.

Other projects presented in the competition included Fortune$: The Secret Safes (Occam Productions, France), Gimme the Beat! (Ignacio Matas, Spain), Inside Joke (Watermelon, Portugal), Six Degrees of Connection (Occam Productions, France), The Freeze (James Moore, UK), The Get Together (Plooops, US) and The Money Tree (Tom Day, UK).

photo by Simon Wilkinson/SWpix.com