African producers with ambitions of creating the continent’s next major reality or entertainment franchise are being given a direct route to one of the industry’s biggest content players.
MultiChoice Group, a CANAL+ company, has partnered with FAME Week Africa to launch an exclusive Unscripted Call for Projects for MIP Africa 2026, inviting producers to pitch original premium unscripted formats directly to MultiChoice Group.
The search is focused on bold Entertainment and Reality concepts capable of hooking viewers immediately, keeping them watching and potentially becoming conversation-driving cultural events.
MultiChoice Wants Ideas That Can Travel
At the centre of the call is a search for formats that can work beyond a single country.
Projects should have the potential to travel across key CANAL+ and MultiChoice Group territories, including South Africa, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Poland and France.
Rather than conventional free-to-air entertainment, MultiChoice is looking for concepts that feel premium and ambitious while remaining simple to understand and commercially viable.
Importantly, producers aren’t expected to arrive with enormous production budgets. Concepts should be financially realistic enough to be funded initially by one business unit before potentially being scaled into additional territories.
“At CANAL+, we’re looking for premium unscripted reality concepts that surprise audiences, spark conversations and feel culturally relevant,”
says Nomsa Philiso, Executive Vice President of Content for CANAL+ Africa.
“We’re excited to hear about concepts with a bold and unique point of view, that keep audiences hooked episode after episode, and that have the ambition to scale across markets.”
Dating, Game Shows and Social Experiments Are on the Radar
Among the genres being actively sought are dating shows with a twist, reinvented game and talent shows, social experiments with a strong point of view, and adaptations of existing intellectual property drawn from areas such as games, brands, fiction and digital culture.
But having an interesting premise alone won’t be enough.
MultiChoice wants a singular creative vision that can ideally be explained in one sentence and does not depend entirely on casting to make the programme interesting.
Formats should contain clear engagement mechanics alongside tension, twists, cliffhangers and narrative arcs capable of keeping audiences invested from episode to episode.
Premium production values, strong artistic direction and an authentic emotional core will also be important.
Ultimately, the broadcaster is searching for strong intellectual property that could develop into recurring franchises across MultiChoice Group and CANAL+ markets.
Producers Will Pitch Directly to Decision-Makers
For FAME Week Africa, the initiative is also about shortening the distance between African creators and the executives who can commission their ideas.
“One of FAME Week Africa’s greatest strengths is getting African producers in the room with decision-makers who are actively looking for content,”
says Martin Hiller, Portfolio Director of FAME Week Africa.
“This Call for Projects gives producers a very clear brief: bring bold unscripted ideas with a strong hook, real entertainment value and the potential to travel across markets.”
Shortlisted producers will be invited to Cape Town to pitch their projects live at FAME Week Africa 2026 directly to the MultiChoice Group selection panel.
What Producers Need to Submit
Submissions must include a creative treatment in PDF format, an estimated production budget with principal cost assumptions, and a proposed format and season structure covering episode duration, number of episodes and recurrence.
The treatment will need to go considerably further than simply presenting an interesting idea.
Producers are expected to explain the project’s central hook, what differentiates it from existing formats, why it is relevant now and how audiences should feel while watching it.
Submissions should also unpack the show’s core mechanics, rules, sources of tension and twists, season and episode structures, casting strategy, editorial identity and target audience.
Another major consideration will be global franchise potential — including whether the format can sustain multiple seasons and be adapted efficiently for different countries and cultures without losing its core identity.
Deadline Set for 12 October
All proposals must be submitted through FAME Week Africa, with entries closing on 12 October 2026.
Successful applicants will then have the opportunity to take their ideas from the treatment stage to a live industry pitch in front of the executives actively searching for new formats.
The initiative comes as FAME Week Africa continues positioning itself as a bridge between African creators and international broadcasters, commissioners, distributors and platforms.
FAME Week Africa 2026 takes place from 28 to 30 October at the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC2), bringing together broadcasters, streamers, producers, distributors, investors and creators from Africa and international markets.
