Npo Vpro Tegenlicht

Editorial tone

Intellectual, forward-looking, optimistic-critical. Tegenlicht takes a major global trend and examines it through a Dutch/European lens. Essay style with strong authorial voice. No fear of big ideas and abstract concepts, but always grounded through concrete examples and protagonists. Curious, never didactic. The tone is: "What if we thought about it differently?" — constructive journalism with intellectual ambition.

What this format covers

• ●Major global trends: algorithms, sharing economy, post-growth, AI
• ●Systemic questions: how does capitalism, democracy, education work?
• ●Future visions and alternative societal models
• ●Technology and its impact on people and society
• ●Global phenomena through Dutch/European perspective
• ●Constructive journalism: making solutions visible
• ●Economy, finance, labour — thought systemically

What this format does NOT want

• ●Purely national Dutch topics without global relevance
• ●Protagonist-driven individual fates without larger context
• ●Historical documentaries without future connection
• ●Crime or true-crime formats
• ●Nature films or wildlife observation
• ●Entertainment, lifestyle or pop culture without societal depth
• ●Investigative exposés (for that: Zembla)

Visual expectations

Essay style with international shooting locations. Mix of conversations with thinkers/experts, observational sequences and visual metaphors. Graphic elements and animations allowed when they illustrate complex relationships. High-quality cinematography, international locations. No studio — everything on location. Atmospheric images that invite reflection.

Expected exposé structure

1. Title (punchy, intellectually stimulating)
2. Logline (2–3 sentences: which trend, which thesis, why now)
3. The big question — which system/phenomenon is being examined
4. Expose body text: thesis, antithesis, shift in perspective
5. Protagonists/experts/thinkers who speak
6. International shooting locations and access
7. European/Dutch connection
8. Author, production company, contact

Example productions

• Tegenlicht: De Deeleconomie (The Sharing Economy)
• Tegenlicht: De Opkomst van het Algoritme (The Rise of the Algorithm)
• Tegenlicht: Geld voor Niets (Money for Nothing — Grundeinkommen)
• Tegenlicht: De Grote Bitcoin Show
• Tegenlicht: Hoe China de Wereld Verovert