EXCLUSIVE: The Traitors producer Studio Lambert and John de Mol‘s Talpa Studios are on the rise.
The pair has teamed to bring psychological quiz format The Golden Elevators to the U.S. and UK after Talpa’s creative team developed the show. Talpa has international format rights.
Strengthening the Traitors link, Talpa Studios’ Chief Creative Officer Jasper Hoogendoorn is a co-creator of the original Dutch format De Verraders. He worked with Studio Lambert to adapt the format for the BBC in the UK and NBC in the U.S. into what became market-changing remakes.
The Golden Elevators is billed as a “high-stakes” quiz show in which ten contestants begin together in the lobby of a spectacular skyscraper with the aim of reaching the top floor and securing a $100,000 prize. They compete in several rounds of trivia questions where there are only two possible answers, each on linked to a different, iconic elevator. They collectively decide on the answer, with the right one ascending the elevator upwards and the other plunging it down and eliminating all the players in a single swoop.
Watch on Deadline
The format will be made out of Netherlands-based Talpa’s international production hub in Belgium, where the likes of The Floor, The Quiz with Balls and Caught in the Middle are made.
“The last time we collaborated with Jasper the result was the U.S. and UK versions of The Traitors, which have been spectacularly successful on both sides of the Atlantic,” said Studio Lambert CEO Stephen Lambert. “We think we have lightning in a bottle for the second time with The Golden Elevators, a show that combines the joy of a quiz with a psychological drama of trust and betrayal. We can’t wait to find the right home for it in America and Britain.”
“This outstanding new format combines quiz and strategy elements with a gripping psychological layer and a strong, simple visual identity,” added Hoogendoorn. “Add our hub strategy and the reunion with Stephen and his team, and you’re truly aiming for the top. John, Stephen and I all believe in deceptively simple ideas that create genuine psychological depth and global appeal, and this powerful collaboration provides a strong platform to bring the format to the international market.”
Hoogendoorn has previously adapted several Studio Lambert formats for the Dutch market, most notably Race Across the World.
In January last year, we revealed Hoogendoorn had joined Talpa Studios from IDTV, the Dutch production house that like Studio Lambert is part of All3Media. IDTV had teamed with Pos Film and RTL’s creative unit to develop The Traitors.
Last week, Hoogendoorn’s Traitors co-creator, Pos, revealed he is working on a secretive reality format titled Project M in an interview with The Telegraph newspaper. In the same article, it was reported The Traitors had been turned down between 30 and 40 times before getting the greenlight at RTL4.
De Mol set up Talpa Studios after leaving his ITV-owned production business Talpa Media in 2019. The company is behind the likes of The Floor, which was remade for Fox in the U.S. and Million Dollar Island, which NBC remade but shelved before its broadcast. Talpa is now working with Fox Entertainment Studios on The House of Hide & Seek, which is set to launch on RTL4 this year.