NBC Universal’s non-scripted studio, run by Paul Telegdy and Meredith Ahr, is looking to ramp up the number of shows it produces for third party broadcasters and digital services as it

starts to move a number of its talent-led formats around the world. Telegdy and Ahr tell Deadline that they have moved into the next phase of growth at the Universal Television Alternative

Studio, which was set up in June 2016. The pair lifted the lid on their latest batch of projects, reaffirmed plans to move into the music space and reveal how they are getting stars such as

Jennifer Lopez and Dwayne Johnson to help close high-profile international format deals. The studio is coming off the back of Lopez’s _World of Dance_ competition, a ratings winner for NBC

into markets such as Poland, Thailand and the Philippines. Telegdy admits that it’s a slow roll out, stressing that they are big commitments to broadcasters. It’s becoming tougher to launch

international formats as well, with many networks preferring to commission their own originals. The BBC, for instance, has just ordered _The Greatest Dancer_ from Simon Cowell’s Syco. “The

success of _World of Dance_ has stimulated a number of [international broadcasters] that have got [their own] pilot going. I’m confident they’ll thrash around a bit [and then sign _World of

Dance_],” adds Telegdy. To combat this, the pair have managed to get Lopez, and Johnson, whose physical competition format _The Titan Games_ launches later this year, to help persuade global

networks to sign up by being available for promotion and acting as cheerleaders for the brands. Ahr says, “They have both said, ‘tell me what you need’. They are not attaching their name to

something and walking away, they fully believe in the mission and message of what these shows represent. They really care. Jennifer has already shot _World of Dance_ promos in multiple

languages. For all our formats, we try and make the format the star no matter who is on them; it’s about credibility.” _The Titan Games_, which received a ten-episode order, is the next big

bet for the studio. The show sees competitors from across America step inside an arena and put themselves to the ultimate test by facing one of six reigning Titans in a series of epic

head-to-head challenges designed to test mind, body and heart. Johnson tells Deadline, “_The Titan Games_ will take the spotlight and shine it on everyday people who have what it takes to

rise up to one of the most physically challenging experiences they’ve ever tackled. We want to deliver a competition that is different from anything else out there and we know our global

audience will love watching our fierce competitors step into the arena for the opportunity of a lifetime.” The show is produced in association with _American Ninja Warrior_ producer A. Smith

& Co. and Seven Bucks Productions co-founders Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia. Garcia says, “With_ The Titan Games_, we are giving anyone with the will-power and perseverance an

opportunity to face and overcome some of the most intense physical competitions to earn the title of Titan. We look forward to taking the audience along for this wild ride.” NBC Universal’s

international format sales team will be launching _The Titan Games_ at Mip TV in Cannes, which kicks off this weekend. It is one of a number of formats that the Hollywood studio will be

hoping that can travel. Other priorities including _Knife Fight_, the late-night culinary competition that sees talented chefs go head-to-head to create incredible dishes under rowdy

circumstances, Chris Hardwick-fronted science format _The Awesome Show_, Amy Poehler and Nick Offerman’s _Making It,_ art format _Everyone’s A Critic_ and mystery gameshow _The Game With No

Name_, which was created in association with Korean broadcaster MBC. Ahr and Telegy say that they welcome ideas from all over the world and are keen to work with more international

producers. Hollywood and the studios may seem like a really mysterious place, like the _Wizard of Oz_, but there are lots of access points for international people, we throw our doors open,

we’re not mysterious. I don’t want people to think it’s a parochial place, it’s very global, NBCU is a company that really takes international business seriously because we have to think

about the history of where hits come from,” says Telegdy, who is one of the longest serving network execs in the business, having joined ten years ago. Ahr joined NBC as a page in 2001,

working on _Saturday Night Live._ Last year, the studio picked up the U.S. format rights to Norwegian music format _The Stream_ as it looked to find its own musical competition series.

Telegdy says that it bought_ The Stream_ as a building block for this move. Last year, Telegdy told Deadline that it was expecting to launch a new music series in 2018, but he now says that

they made a conscious decision to “stay out of the way” this year. He pointed to the continued ratings success of_ The Voice_, while ABC made a big noise with the return of _American Idol_.

“Everyone knows we’re working on a music show, I can’t keep that a secret [but] it wasn’t the year for us to launch a new music competition show. Meredith and I will crack a new music show

and we have the bones of a fantastic show… we’re very confident that we’re going to pop something out of the box that is radically different, that’s not like all of the old ones.” “We

believe slow and steady wins the race. We’re thinking about giving people something they didn’t know they needed. We see people rushing out with something that feels like been there done

that. We want to do something different,” adds Ahr. Some 50% of reality hours on NBC in 2018 are produced by Universal Television Alternative Studio. However, the next big step will be

securing shows on other networks as well as the digital services. It is already producing a ten-episode reboot of classic 1970s series _In Search Of_ for History. The show, which explores

lost civilizations, extraterrestrials, myths and monsters, missing persons, magic and witchcraft, unexplained phenomena, was originally hosted by _Star Trek’s_ Leonard Nimroy and is now

being fronted by Zachary Quinto, who replaced Nimroy as Spock in the rebooted sci-fi franchise. Ahr says now is the time to ramp this strategy up further. “The first phase was really about

creating a brand and a process. It was about proving that we could be a global production company at the highest level. It’s not an accident that we have a huge game show, huge shiny floor

show, a travel docu-comedy, we wanted to have a diversified portfolio so we weren’t pigeonholed. I was scared that if we sold something we wouldn’t be ready. Phase two, which started this

year, is really honing our development for outside, it’s not for NBC, we’ve already got things that haven’t been announced yet and we’re in negotiations with a number of other outlets,

broadcast and cable and digital, really great shows that I hope we can announce soon,” she says. Telegdy admits “there will be a day when I look at the ratings at 4:30am and we have a show

on another network and we’ll be celebrating the success and feeling another way”. It’s not a bad problem to have.