FORMAT
Japan’s Nippon TV has teamed with Finland’s Rabbit Films for the Finnish-language version of Nippon TV’s unscripted format“Silent Library.”The Finnish version, hosted by popular presenter Riku Rantala, will air from Feb. 15 on Star Channel and is titled“Silent Library Suomi.”
Since its launch as an international format in 2007, local versions have been developed in more than 20 countries around the world, including a hit U.S. version that launched on MTV in 2009. First airing in 2001 on Nippon TV,“Silent Library”is created by Japanese comedian Hitoshi Matsumoto and produced by Nippon TV in association with Yoshimoto Kogyo. In the show, there are six contestants, one librarian, and other people who sit randomly at the tables in the library. During the show,the contestants must endure crazy pranks but must always keep silent because the show takes place inalibrary.
For the Finnish version, celebrities who will appear on the program include influencers, musicians, athletes, and actors, as well as their friends and family.
PRODUCTION
Film executives Ian Dawson, Gaby Whyte-Hart and Ru Hollier have teamed to produce horror feature “The Caged,” written, and to be directed by Jeffrey Scott Collins (“Poor Greg Drowning”).
Inspired by true events, the film follows a family that moves into their new home, a quaint cottage in Essex, England. They soon realize that the old house contains a dark presence as they find themselves repeatedly terrorized. Uncovering the history of the residence, they discover its previous life as the site of a medieval prison for those accused of witchcraft, including England’s most notorious witch, hanged in 1582.
The film will shoot in Q4 2023 and be produced by Dawson, Whyte-Hart and Hollier under their respective Sparky Pictures, Filmtrax and Fearless Features banners. “The Caged” will be the first of several genre films in development from the trio.
“Poor Greg Drowning, “Collins’ debut feature, screened at 26 Festivals in 2020.
