North London producers Danny Fenton and Ben Paul have scooped a Rose d’Or for their television series Relentless.
Made by their independent company ZigZag, the show was successful in the Best Game Show category of the awards, which recognise the best of the year’s new entertainment and television shows. They beat heavyweights Endemol and ITV.
Commissioned by Channel 4, Relentless is an action-packed quiz show. Contestants must correctly complete a series of challenges to win a cash prize. Those who apply have no idea when the show will begin, or how — they are just told to be on call, await instructions and be ready to act. Each episode features one contestant who is challenged to answer ten questions at any time over a 48-hour period. Mr Paul, 36 (right), head of development at ZigZag, says the key to the show’s success is its “genre-busting” nature. He tells People:
“We like to think outside the box and fuse together different genres. Relentless is part game show, part reality show and part comedy show. This is our biggest award to date.”
Former BBC producer Mr Fenton, 40, founded the company 10 years ago. He adds: “Relentless was both an exciting proposition and a practical challenge. It was a really fun show to make.”
ZigZag has made over 400 hours of programming to date. It won the pitch for Relentless at the Edinburgh International Television Festival in 2007, beating off competition from Talkback Thames and Hat Trick Productions.
The company is currently in discussions with several broadcasters
in the US about a North American version.
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