For EndemolShine Big Bounce is a 'dream project'

RTL Germany introduces television series with indoor trampoline park

EndemolShine is very clear about this: for the renowned multimedia company, Big Bounce is nothing less than a ‘dream project’. Margot van Schayk, Head of Programme Development at Endemol: "You come up with such a big show at best once in your life".

Martijn de Bruin, programme developer Margot van Schayk’s team, has a large pile of drawings under his arm; sketches of indoor play equipment, of attractions that were at the cradle of what is now Big Bounce. It actually is daily work for the both of them: coming up with new ideas. Where do they get their inspiration from? Quite simple: they look around and check what’s happening in their environment and the rest of the world. "At a certain point we discovered that trampoline parks were being opened everywhere and that there is a trampoline in virtually every backyard in the world", says Martijn de Bruin. And that’s where it hit them: a television programme with trampolines, with action, fun and a lot of dynamics: potentially a great success?

Premiere in Germany

The reactions were extremely enthusiastic, especially from EndemolShine Germany. They touched on the idea and soon TV channel RTL Germany were on their side, which was important because a good idea is nice, but if no broadcaster is interested, it dies an early death. "That certainly was great news," says Margot van Schayk. "Of course we would also like to see it on Dutch TV, but it was too big for that in the initial phase. Miljoenenjacht (Dutch game show with very large prizes ed.) is a big show, but we’re dealing with a whole trampoline park that you have to build up for TV recordings and that makes it a very costly programme.”

Global powerhouse

It was expensive, but for EndemolShine well worth the risk because EndemolShine is a global powerhouse with offices in 78 countries and can come up with programmes that are not only interesting for the Netherlands. In this case there was immediate chemistry with the German colleagues. But there is also hope for Dutch trampoline fans. "A production has now been set up and we can distribute these costs across several countries. That way it could also become affordable for the Netherlands", says Martijn de Bruin.

ELI Play exclusive partner

Before the production got off to a start, the course had to be built by ELI Play. "They showed a lot of courage", says Martijn. "There was little time and in the development phase, parties must believe in each other and in the project. From the moment EndemolShine Germany sold the production to RTL and took over, ELI Play started thinking about how it could all be realized technically. They cleverly thought about how the parts could already be put together so that they could be driven into the studio."

Thanks to ELI Play, a beautiful course has been realized and a lot of time has been saved.

Martijn de Bruin

Truly innovative

For ELI Play it was innovative to use trampolines not just horizontally, but also almost vertically in an indoor trampoline park. The manufacturer from Boxtel in Brabant also came up with an inverted diving board which, according to Margot and Martijn, is "really spectacular". "Our question was also: how do you keep it all safe with head to head competitions when you’re under pressure, and with cameras around you? In ELI Play they were particularly successful in meeting that aspect, for example with advanced soft cushions for falling."

An actual jump audition

The most important factor still had to be arranged however: participants in the show. Casting calls were broadcast via RTL Germany with the slogan: Deutschland sucht ein Superstar ... which immediately led to a lot of reactions. People from all over our eastern neighbours, young people and seniors, were eager to join. No less than a few thousand enthusiasts signed up, hundreds of them did a real jump audition. In the end, 400 were allowed to go to the big show. "It was not just about superheroes, it has become a very broad composition," Margot says.

This show does not just have heroes whereby you think: this is not serious, this is too extreme.

Margot van Schayk

Grand knockout race

What should the participants be able to do? In any case, they must have good body control and incredible courage, because the equipment that forms the course is a real challenge. A bit of luck also helps, just like a lot of perseverance and great shape. Big Bounce is a match in time and the winner is the one who travels the fastest. It all starts with a duel, a one on one during the opening of the show and only the fastest of the two continues, meaning that the spectacle starts by eliminating half of the participants field right away.

Not just for heroes

The question is: how unique is the programme? Margot van Schayk is clear about this: "It is a physical game show and there are more shows like these, such as Wipeout which was also created by us. We continue to think about how we can form a good idea in such a way that it conquers a unique place in the landscape of existing programmes. That is what we did with Big Bounce. This programme is distinguished by the friendliness of the show. There is more recognition because it appeals to a broad audience; it's not just about heroes doing things whereby you think: I can never do this myself! "

Everyone at the boundlessly ambitious EndemolShine expects it to be a show with great audience ratings, in Germany, but soon also in the US, France and Asia. And maybe, once even in the country where it was born ...