Armoza Formats Launches CGI-Powered Game Show ‘Beat the Grid’

By Manori Ravindran

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Armoza Formats has launched CGI-powered game show “Beat the Grid” — an interactive format the ITV Studios-backed firm plans to shop to broadcasters impacted by coronavirus.

Produced in association with Nimrod Harel and Yaron Yashinski’s production outfit Gamechanger, “Beat the Grid” (30’) finds contestants trying to win cash prizes by guessing the answers to a giant CGI grid that keeps expanding the more questions are answered correctly. Viewers playing from home are also able to join in and try their hand at each question 10 seconds after the contestant for a chance to win the money.

Avi Armoza, founder of the Israeli formats firm, says “Beat the Grid” requires a small studio and relies largely on two cameras — one fixed and one mobile. One or two contestants also participate in-person from the studio, along with a host.

“The only thing you don’t see is what they’re looking at, and that can be a huge screen or a big studio with or without an audience. In answering the needs of the current market, we’re effectively creating a virtual hub,” explains Armoza.

The executive notes that the game’s software, which has been built centrally with new partner Gamechanger, can easily be shared with interested channels.

“Because 80% of the set is CGI, you can bring it to air within a few weeks,” estimates Armoza, who highlights that the show was created and piloted ahead of lockdown.

“All broadcasters need content they can pull up rather quickly in a cost-effective way that meets regulations. So, although we didn’t plan it this way, it has become the right format for the right time,” says Armoza.

The format is currently being shopped to the market. In the U.S., Armoza will team with ITV America to sell “Beat the Grid.”

Nimrod Harel, co-founder and CEO of Gamechanger, added: “We have seen a shift in the TV industry: budgets are getting smaller but the need for an expensive look is in higher demand so we have developed a technology that overcomes this. Our partnership with Armoza Formats was so natural; they immediately understood our strive to change the game and embraced it, taking ‘Beat the Grid’, our first collaboration, to the next level.”

Michal Itzhaki, head of content partnerships at Armoza Formats, said: “By combining our knowledge of the international industry with the unique technology and creativity of Gamechanger, we created a highly entertaining game show for a fraction of the cost — something that is greatly needed in these times.”