Recent years have seen a shift in the Maltese media landscape with the introduction of well-known international franchises like Love Island, Peppa Pig and Family Feud.
The shows have been massively embraced by local audiences. Earlier this year, Love Island Malta announced that its third season broke records with over 960,000 viewers tuning in for its first week across several platforms. Following its huge success in the first season of Family Feud, which aired on Sundays at noon, the programme has now been renewed for a second season in a daily prime time slot. Peppa Pig bil-Malti has also been renewed for its second season, filling a gap of children’s television in Maltese. The programme incorporates all three official languages and is the first international show to be fully dubbed in Maltese, marking a landmark achievement for Malta’s broadcasting industry.
Behind the above IPs are two powerhouse brands – Media Exclusive and VSQUARED.
Established in 2008 by Rachel Cachia and Martina Zammit, VSQUARED first emerged as a TV production company focused on producing award-winning projects such as La Farfalla and Gadgets. As the years went on, the team grew with the additions of Nadya Cachia and Lara Caruana, and together the team pivoted, producing marketing and branding offerings for the corporate sector, even launching a dedicated digital and social media department, responding to evolving market demands. All this contributed to a solid reputation and a position as one of Malta’s leading video production companies.
On the other side is Maltese production management company Media Exclusive. Established in 2022, it was born out of the joining of forces between Martina and Lara, from the VSQUARED team, with entrepreneur Chris Gravina and well-known TV personality and producer Ben Camille. With deep expertise in broadcast and media IP, Media Exclusive has built a team with advanced production capabilities.
“Both companies have been ‘business flirting’ for the past two years,” Rachel shares, but the various pieces of the puzzle came together around the same time.
“At VSQUARED, we had developed a reality show format around love called Kiss n Kiss and pitched it to TVM,” reveals Martina. “Around the same time, Chris had acquired the rights for Love Island and proposed it to TVM. He then approached us at VSQUARED to be the production house behind it.” After looping in her team at VSQUARED, they decided to take the bull by the horns. Everything was falling into place.
At that stage, Ben had also been in talks with ITV regarding the Love Island brand so when he was approached to jump on board, he was more than ready. “I remember Martina and Lara coming to my office,” Ben recalls fondly. “They sat down and asked me to sign an NDA. Chris wasn’t there physically that day, but those who know Chris know he was there through that NDA!” he laughs. “At first, I thought they were joking – but they weren’t. I signed the NDA and told them, ‘OK, you can tell me about Love Island now.’ Destiny – or in this case, love – brought us together.”
For the newly united leadership team, the months ahead are about sharpening their focus, nurturing talent, and pushing creative boundaries.
“We definitely have an exciting year ahead!” says Nadya. “October is just around the corner, which means Family Feud and Peppa Pig will return with new episodes, while Love Island begins the early creative process for season four. Right now, we’re working on dubbing a Turkish drama into Maltese. Turkish dramas have proven to be very popular among the Maltese audience, and we see this as the next big hit." The Turkish drama Nadya is hinting at is L-Iskorpjun (Akrep), the first-ever international drama to be fully dubbed in Maltese. The Turkish TV series is hugely poular in its home country and is a first for Malta. Premeiring on TVM, the first episode will air 29th September at 10pm.
Shifting the focus back on the company, Lara has big plans for the new additions they're making to the team. For her, the goal is structure and impact: “I’m looking forward to continuing to structure the team and define the different roles within the company. It excites me to work across both TV productions and advertising projects, while challenging ourselves to keep producing high-level content that raises the bar locally.”
For Chris, his focus is on scaling and visibility. “I’m looking forward to seeing our upcoming projects realised on TV and beyond. With various shows in the pipeline, we aim to continue offering the best quality on Maltese television. One of our original goals was to put our name on an international level.”
Rachel complements Chris’s comments, highlighting how the alliance is going to allow them to reach new heights. “Together, we can dream bigger, move faster, and deliver even more value to our clients. Above all, what excites me most is the chance to keep pushing myself creatively while building a stronger, more sustainable future for our companies.”
As always with shifts in companies, teams and workflows, challenges will come, but this team is ahead of the game in anticipating them.
“From being a small production company, Media Exclusive and VSQUARED have now grown into Malta’s largest media and production group,” asserts Chris. “That means managing more staff across various departments and ensuring everything runs smoothly.” However, a plan is in place already with the intention to “remain focused, structured, and committed to continuously enhancing our service offering while keeping creativity at the forefront.”
From his end, Ben points to changing audiences and the evolving media landscape, as well as rising production costs.
Audiences now consume content across platforms and formats which creates fragmentation. “This doesn’t mean TV is dead,” Ben emphasises, “clearly it’s not, as the numbers show – but it does mean we need to keep adapting our productions for both traditional broadcast and digital platforms, making sure our content is engaging whether it’s a full episode or a 30-second reel.”
To tackle rising production costs, “our approach is to strengthen partnerships and co-productions, while also investing in more efficient technologies and workflows that allow us to deliver the same quality with smarter use of resources,” Ben explains.
This being said, all members of this dynamic leadership team emphasised the critical attention that will be given to talent retention. All agree that at its heart, this alliance is about building strength within a group of creatives, and being able to scale without compromise.
“We’re committed to building a strong creative culture within the company and giving our people opportunities to grow. By fostering an environment where talent feels valued, we can keep delivering the kind of innovative shows and campaigns that audiences and clients expect from us,” Ben says.
“At the end of the day, our team is the heart of the company. And while challenges will always exist, we see them as opportunities. By staying agile, creative, and collaborative, we’re confident we’ll continue to set the benchmark for media production in Malta and beyond,” he concludes.
Nadya sums it up eloquently when she says: “The coming year will test us, but it will also show the power of what happens when people with the same passion for storytelling come together. That’s the real story behind this alliance.”
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