The panel Original TV Series Formats and Adaptation, sponsored by Viaplay Group and held during NEM Zagreb last week, brought together commissioners, creatives, producers and distributors to unpack how scripted formats are reshaping decision-making across Central and Eastern Europe and beyond. Moderated by Maria Chiara Duranti, Founder and Chief Editor of Formatbiz, the discussion moved fluidly between risk mitigation, cultural proximity, audience needs and the long-term ambition to build original IP.

Opening the conversation, Duranti framed scripted formats as “a very important trend worldwide,” inviting each panelist to reflect from their specific professional vantage point. For Igor Draguzet, Chief Content Officer at CME, the starting point is no longer the format itself, but the audience. “Over the past, I would say, five to ten years, we left a mindset of focusing on format first. And we kind of more are focusing on building portfolios,” he said. Within those portfolios, however, adaptations play a crucial role: “Formats play an increasingly important role, especially when it comes to mitigating risk.”

Draguzet emphasized that commissioning decisions are driven by questions of audience, platform and purpose. “Who is this audience, what is the audience for this show? What audience are we serving? What needs are we serving?” Formats, he explained, provide valuable reference points: “It’s, of course, a lot easier to make big calls when you have some historic experience that you can rely on.” At the same time, he acknowledged the central tension facing broadcasters today: “Mitigating risk versus building IP in the long run.”

From the perspective of Croatian public broadcaster HRT, Editor in Chief Rahela Štefanović described a more limited but instructive experience with scripted adaptations. “We do not have that much experience in buying and adapting formats, but we have a huge success lately, which we have done with the adapting of SCAM, the Norwegian drama, in Croatia” she said. That success demonstrated the learning value of formats: “In this case, we really didn’t know everything about our audience, and this is why the format made such a huge success.”

Štefanović was candid about the skepticism formats can face in Croatia, particularly within public service media. “Sometimes in Croatia… they think that something that is format is a bit dirty. It’s not original,” she said, firmly rejecting that view. “We can definitely learn from it and we can put all our cultural identity inside every format that we are doing.” For her, formats are not a replacement for originality but a tool: “It’s something that we encourage… it’s one of the things that we can do and it can be successful and it also can have cultural identity integrated in it.”

Representing the creative side, Kelly Alchanati, Creative Producer and Showrunner at Argonauts Productions, drew on her experience in Greece. “We adapted the Non Dirlo al Mio Capo (Don’t Tell My Boss) from Italy last year, and it was a huge success,” she said, noting that prior success in the original market helped reduce uncertainty. “It was easier to take the risk because there was not so much risk.” She added that another adaptation, Cuentame from Spain, also ran for multiple successful seasons. Yet Alchanati highlighted the creative challenge, especially with comedy: “Comedy like the humor code differs from its country. So that’s kind of risky.”

Tereza Polachová, Director of Content at Czech Television and former Head of Original Production at HBO Europe for Czech and Slovak territories, offered a historical perspective on how formats helped HBO establish itself locally. “HBO chose at the time In Treatment as its first original, and at the time the purpose was easy. It was like, again, mitigating the risk,” she said. Early seasons closely followed the original Israeli version, but over time, local teams diverged. “We were able to then… lean away from the bible,” she explained, citing later adaptations such as the Swedish noir The Mammoth and the Israeli rom-com When Shall We Kiss, adapted locally as Head Over Heels. Despite initial doubts, the result exceeded expectations: “It was really the most successful HBO show… it was more successful than Game of Thrones.”

Polachová contrasted that experience with Czech Television’s current focus. “At Czech TV, it’s a different story, because there is really core, it’s original drama,” she said, noting that only a handful of adaptations have been produced. Still, formats remain relevant, particularly for digital platforms targeting younger audiences: “To mitigate the risk, we are trying to look for formats which would be accessible for the younger audience.”

From the distribution and international sales side, Vanda Rapti, EVP Viaplay Select & Content Distribution at Viaplay Group, described a growing appetite for European scripted formats. “Good scripted formats provide both a good creative ground that fast tracks development and reduces the cost,” she said, adding that they help “get faster to a greenlighting decision.” Rapti traced a shift away from US dominance toward European storytelling, highlighting what she called “European grounded realism.” Nordic content, she noted, is particularly attractive due to its strong character-driven narratives and emotional resonance.

While crime and thriller travel most easily as ready-made content, Rapti argued that comedy and dramedy are fertile ground for adaptation. “The beauty here, especially with Nordic storytelling is in the comedies… and the dramedy is real life dramas,” she said. “That is really good ground for remakes actually.”

Katarzyna Franus, Creative Producer at TVP, brought the Polish perspective, balancing creative instinct with pragmatic results. “My heart is of course with original productions rather than adapted formats,” she admitted, before adding that TVP has been successful with both. The key, she argued, lies in localization: “The most successful they are the more original they get so the further they go away from the original adapted format.” Cultural sensitivity is essential. “We make them sensitive towards our cultural values like family… warmth… being more sentimental,” she said, noting that certain themes may be avoided if they do not resonate with Polish audiences.

Returning to CME’s hands-on experience, Draguzet detailed the breadth of adaptations across the group’s markets. “We’ve adapted over the years many formats over multiple genres,” including crime procedurals, comedies, thrillers and Turkish drama. In Romania and Croatia, Turkish formats have proven particularly effective due to “cultural proximity.” He also highlighted CME’s early adaptation of the Italian medical drama DOC – Nelle tue mani. Reflecting on contemporary practice, he concluded: “Nowadays you’re acquiring the story engine and then you do all the other adaptation work… today’s successful format adaptations are more remakes than they are literal recreations of the original.”

As the discussion closed, Franus addressed the broader question of Poland’s potential as a hub for original IP, emphasizing collaboration over dominance. “I don’t think one country needs to lead the whole area,” she said. “The best things come from cooperation.”

Taken together, the panel painted a nuanced picture of scripted format adaptation in Europe today: not as a shortcut or compromise, but as a strategic, creative and culturally embedded process—one that balances risk and ambition, local identity and international exchange.