Helium Pictures options Something Special’s Unforgettable Duet format for Australia, NZ

From C21Media:

The Assembly producer Helium Pictures has optioned dementia-themed reality music format Unforgettable Duet from South Korean outfit Something Special.

The format, created and produced by Something Special and Eun-seol Mo, creator of Netflix’s Culinary Class War, and coproduced with Studio Rudolph, premiered on South Korean network MBN in September.

Sydney-based Helium Pictures has optioned the format, which follows dementia patients whose families gather mementos and favourite songs to help them recall the past, for Australia and New Zealand. The news was announced at Asian TV Forum in Singapore.

Helium Pictures was founded by Australian producer Mark Fennessy, while Seoul-based Something Special was founded by Jin Woo Hwang and InSoon Kim.

Helium Pictures was behind factual series The Assembly for the ABC in Australia, a show that followed autistic student journalists as they prepared and then interviewed six of the nation’s biggest names, including the prime minister.

Fennessy said: “This beautifully crafted format provides a unique and emotional opportunity to relive precious memories through the gift of music.”

Woo Hwang, co-founder, president and executive producer at Something Special, said: “Helium Pictures has shown the world its groundbreaking factual series The Assembly. We look forward to seeing how this beautiful new format will give viewers more heartfelt discoveries.”