BIG MONEY Without doubt, one of the most successful formats of recent times has been Who Wants to be a Millionaire? with license agreements in 107 countries. Several of the team that created that show have now set up their own company. Called Boxatricks, the main players are Steve Springford, Michael Whitehill, David Briggs, John Gough, Andrew Eborn, Fintan Coyle and Colman Hutchinson. “Boxatricks is basically a format creation and development
company,” explains Hutchinson, one of the company’s creative directors. “We create game show formats, acquire third-party formats, and carry out consultancy work that helps other people develop their formats.” He says that one of the major changes on the UK game show scene over the last 10 years has been the move from prime time viewing to daytime scheduling. “You look at the successful formats such as The Chase, Pointless and Tipping Point and they all occupy pre-prime time slots. But
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