Ben Silverman’s Electus has partnered with Barracuda Television Productions and Media Headquarters to produce a United States version of “Canada’s Smartest Person.”
The series, originally developed in Canada for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, is a primetime competitive reality series in which contestants prove their smarts in unique challenges that go beyond trivia or IQ tests. It premiered on CBC in September last year, and became Canada’s number one new series of the fall television season.
Electus has licensed “Canada’s Smatest Person” to Turkey’s TRT and Sera Film for production, and has secured deals in France, Norway, Sweden and Portugal.
Barracuda’s Barry Poznick, the co-creator of Fox hit “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?,” will serve as executive producer of the American adaptation, which is currently being shopped to U.S. networks.
“I love this format because it’s revolutionizing the way we judge who is smart,” Poznick said in a statement. “IQ scores don’t mean anything anymore … this is the new way to test intelligence. And it’s fun, physical, fast-paced and filled with surprising outcomes.”