in “Circle,” A reality competition show on Netflix, a group of strangers are isolated for days in a high-rise apartment complex, trying to survive the elimination rounds to win cash prizes, such as “Big brother.” The twist is that players can’t see or hear each other, and must communicate via text – people may not be who they appear to be, and anyone, at any time, can be. Catfishing.
As it turns out, “The Circle” is doing some impersonation of its own, with an attractive setting standing in for a local building in various international versions of the show.
The neon-lit compound — which was initially a housing block in Salford, England, before moving to a complex in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2023 — isn’t the only set for the series’ flagship American edition, which returns to Netflix. The seventh season premiered on September 11. It has also been used for “The Circle Brazil,” France’s “The Circle Game,” the British version of “The Circle,” and its 2020 spinoff “The Celebrity Circle.” With minimal adjustments, the show can look like it’s located virtually anywhere in the world.
“We needed a 10-room building that looked great, was in a cool place and could house a team of 200 people in the basement,” said Jack Burgess, executive producer on “The Circle.” In a recent interview. “It’s hard to find, so of course you want to make the most of it.”
“The Circle” is one of many current reality programs pioneering international production hubs: state-of-the-art bases where multiple production companies can pool resources to create versions of shows tailored to different global markets.
In the past, local iterations were produced separately, often in conjunction with local broadcasters. For instance, versions of “Big Brother” are produced from the ground up in different regions, using their own crews and sets. But because every version of “The Circle” is for Netflix, Burgess said, it makes sense to pool resources: “We’re able to be more integrated, and everyone benefits from the scale of what we’ve created.”
Fabian Tobias, managing director of reality TV production house Endemol Shine Germany, said the trend for these international hubs also reflects the need to save money. “Streamers are more sensitive to production costs, and they have this period of money in the market,” he said. At the same time, no one wants a show to look cheap or small — the trick is to minimize the budget without showing it onscreen.
“You can put reality stars in a simple house instead of a villa or ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’ can play With a thousand rupees,” said Tobias. “But then it gets lame, and you screw up the format. The idea with the hub is that it’s a smart way to reduce costs without destroying production value.”
In theory, it would be possible to do this with two different shows in the same market: Endemol Shine’s “Beauty and the Nerd” and “Promise Under Palmmen” (“Celebs Under Palm Trees”) both take place on remote tropical islands, and they’re easily Can share sets. “We don’t do this, because it would look the same, and we want people to see both,” Tobias said. The reason it works for international productions is because the audiences are different: Brits watch the UK version of “The Circle” and Brazilians watch “The Circle Brazil,” and there’s rarely much overlap between the two.
However, many reality creators want their versions to be distinct, even if they share locations. “You still have to put your stamp on it, so it feels like your territory,” said Nazleen Karim, executive producer of “Love Is Blind: UK,” which used the same set as “Love Is Blind: Sweden” in Karim’s version. . ,” but she wanted it to feel unique, adding bold colors and splashes of decor. “We get very precious about it,” she said.
Working in a production hub also offers learning opportunities, Karim said. When an international team is finished with a set, they often share advice about what worked and what didn’t work, such as specific lighting cues that look good in a space.
Burgess, executive producer of “The Circle,” echoed that sentiment. He said French and Brazilian production team members shadowed his crew as it was building the American version to better understand the set. “You get all those lessons, and it just makes sure that the quality of each version is as good as it can be,” he said.
Burgess added that, given the demand for the product, it would be cruel to force French and Brazilian peers to find their own suitable apartment building.
“The level of work that goes into putting this together is crazy,” he said. “You don’t want to do that three more times.”
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