Amazon’s James Farrell, Yoshimoto’s Akihiko Okamoto to Discuss ‘LOL: Last One Laughing’ at Mipcom
James Farrell, head of international originals at Amazon MGM Studios, and Akihiko Okamoto, president and representative director at Yoshimoto Kogyo, are to feature in a joint keynote session at TV market Mipcom.
The execs will explore the origination and approach that has made “LOL: Last One Laughing” one of the most successful and travelled formats of recent years and Prime Video’s most watched title ever in several countries.
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The session, part of the market’s Media Mastermind Keynote series, will be staged on the first full day of Mipcom on Oct. 21 at 10.20 a.m. in the Grand Auditorium of the Palais des Festivals. The 40th edition of Mipcom will take place in Cannes from Oct. 21-24.
The show originated from a top-line pitch to Farrell as follows: “Ten comedians gather in a room and try to make each other laugh; the last one to keep a straight face wins.” The original 2016 series from Japan, “Documental,” created by and starring Hitoshi Matsumoto and owned by Yoshimoto Kogyo, has gone on to spawn local versions in more than 20 territories, including Canada, India, Brazil, Nigeria and the Nordics, and is the most watched title of all time on Prime Video in France, Germany and Italy. Local celebrity hosts to date have included Graham Norton (Ireland), Jay Baruchel (Canada), Eugenio Derbez (Mexico), Fedez (Italy), Michael “Bully” Herbig (Germany), Rebel Wilson (Australia) and Trevor Noah (South Africa).
The original Japanese version has already reached its 13th season, with eight adaptations confirmed across the last year and, most recently, a U.K. version hosted by Jimmy Carr announced.
“’LOL: Last One Laughing’ is proof that competition formats drive audiences to streamers,” said Lucy Smith, director of Mipcom and Mip London. “Amazon is leading the way, emerging as key producers of unscripted formats. Understanding the strategy behind this hugely successful roll out and how each version has been adapted culturally and comically, will be invaluable for anyone in the business of travelling IP and production globally.”
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