Ratings-winning Romanian game show Win Your Country! in development for US market
44 Blue Productions and Whoopi Goldberg’s One Hoe Productions have entered a partnership with format company Small World IFT to develop a brand new US version of the ratings-winning primetime quiz format Win Your Country!
Originally created by Romania’s Zucchero Media for TVR2, Win Your Country! is the ultimate studio-based game show where contestants win big if they can prove they really know their country. The new US adaptation is now in development and will be executive produced by Whoopi Goldberg and Emmy-nominated Tom Leonardis for One Hoe (I’m Coming Home, Moms Mabley: I Got Somethin’ to Tell You, Strong Medicine), in partnership with Emmy-nominated Executive Producer Stephanie Noonan Drachkovitch and Dan Snook for 44 Blue (Wahlburgers, Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry). Emmy-nominated producer Noah Bonnett (Ellen’s Game of Games, Beat the Clock) is also onboard as showrunner.
Whoopi Goldberg says, “We love the civic nature of this show and the positive focus on unity and identity. It gives the players and the audience a chance to take pride in the place they call home and have a great time doing it, along with a little healthy competition. We think US audiences will love Win Your Country!, and Small World, 44 Blue and Noah Bonnett are the perfect partners to bring it to life here.”
“We have produced two critically acclaimed series with Whoopi and Tom and are always looking for exciting new content to create together,” said Stephanie Noonan Drachkovitch, President & Co-Founder of 44 Blue. “When we saw Small World’s Win Your Country!, we knew it would be a perfect fit for Whoopi’s brand of topical humor and family fun. The format couldn’t be more relevant, and we look forward to bringing it to the US.”
Tim Crescenti, President at Small World IFT, said: “The format guarantees plenty of humor, fast-paced quiz/trivia action and viewer interaction. One Hoe and 44 Blue were quick to recognize its strong potential for the US market. And to partner with a rare EGOT (Emmy-Grammy-Oscar-Tony) winner like Whoopi Goldberg, we couldn’t be more thrilled and honored.”
Now in its fourth season in Romania, with 200 episodes produced, Win Your Country! is TVR2’s number one show, airing nightly in primetime and regularly tripling the channel’s audience share. The Romanian version won TV Mania best game show award in 2017, beating Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, Wheel of Fortune and The Wall.
The format is also currently in development for a Canadian broadcaster and optioned in France.
44 Blue Productions, a Red Arrow Studios company, is an award-winning non-fiction producer with an impressive slate featuring ground-breaking series such as the Emmy-nominated Wahlburgers, E Entertainment’s Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry and Animal Planet’s top-rated Pit Bulls & Parolees. Recent TV projects from New York-based One Hoe Productions – a partnership between Whoopi Goldberg and Tom Leonardis – include reality docuseries According to Alex and Oxygen’s GLAAD Award-winning reality series Strut, both produced in partnership with 44 Blue. 44 Blue and One Hoe are represented by William Morris Endeavor.