Newen Studios has added Nordic film and TV company Anagram to its rapidly expanding European group of production labels.
Newen Studios’ CEO Romain Bessi announced the acquisition on October 6 at a press conference in Paris, where he outlined the French production giant’s strategy and its latest international titles.
He said Newen has snapped up “a very meaningful share” of Anagram, whose chairman and CEO Mats Alders will continue to lead the company.
Anagram is one of the leading independent production companies in Scandinavia.
Newen Studios’ Danish entity, Nimbus, co-produced series Between Us with Anagram Norway. Ammo, an Anagram production for TV2 Norway, is also part of Newen Connect’s line-up at the upcoming Mipcom market. Other notable Anagram titles include SVT hit Thin Blue Line.
European expansion
The Nordic acquisition is the latest global acquisition from Newen Studios, the production subsidiary of French media powerhouse TF1 group that houses more than 40 labels.
In July, Newen took a majority stake in London-based feature doc producer Rise Films. Bessi said: “Our goal is to be strong everywhere in all European countries.”
“Newen isn’t a one single brand of companies – it is a combination of many talented producers and brands who each keep their own DNA. Each company can keep doing what they did before on their own but they can do things they couldn’t do before,” Bessi added.
Newen’s parent TF1 recently scrapped plans to merge with fellow French broadcaster M6, but its production subsidiary continues to forge a path ahead with international co-productions, more English-language content and locally-produced fare with broad global appeal.
According to Bessi, “We give to global platforms content that they don’t have. Cemeteries are filled with French bodies who tried to expand to the US. Our strategy is staying true to our European DNA and expertise, going to every country, talking to people and helping them find European content. It’s better to play to our strengths rather than going global.”
From ‘HIP’ to ‘Marie Antoinette’
The strategy appears to be working. ABC Signature, part of Disney Television Studios, recently acquired English language adaptation rights to TF1’s hit series HIP (High Intellectual Potential).
Produced by Mediawan-owned Septembre Productions, and Itinéraire Productions, a UGC company, the series has been sold to more than 105 territories. A Czech and Slovakianversion have already been filmed for Nova and Markiza respectively and will launch soon.
“We’ve expanded quickly in Europe,” said Bessi, adding: “It is a permanent expansion. We make English, French, Spanish, Dutch and Danish content and there is more to come.”
Newen is also behind Liaison, Apple TV’s first French-language production produced by Ringside Studios and Leonis Productions starring Vincent Cassel and Eva Green.
Ringside Studios’ Gub Neal, an executive producer on the project, highlighted the “creative alchemy we’ve been able to share as producers” alongside co-producer Jean-Benoit Gillig and Leonis and added: “We really needed a European studio and media giant of the scale and consciousness that Romain Bessi has put together with Newen.”
Bessi added: “We’ve been able to retain our European identity and forge something creatively both between France and the UK and also have been able to sell it back into the American system,” he said.
Newen Studios subsidiary Capa Drama’s Claude Chelli and Margaux Balsan presented a first look at anticipated Canal+ title Marie Antoinette. The royal series stars Emilia Schule as the avant-garde queen and will air in France on Canal+ this month.
The €27 million, eight-episode title shot in Versailles and across castles throughout France. It was shot in English and is written by The Favourite’s Deborah Davis, but, Balsan insisted: “Marie Antoinette is purely French, the only broadcaster is Canal+ and the financing and editorial line is 100% French.”
The series has been sold to BBC Two and BBC Australia with sales agent Banijay expected to announce the US buyer in the coming days.
European IP
Key to Newen Studios’ worldwide expansion is its distribution arm Newen Connect, launched two years ago. CEO Rodolphe Buet said: “We want to create European IP with international success.”
Newen Connect has bolstered its international English-language slate with scripted drama including Wagatha produced by Chalkboard and commissioned by Channel 4 in the UK, Australian supernatural series Limbo and British mystery thriller Blindspot.
Bessi told Screen that the company’s greatest challenge remains “consolidation in all markets. A lot of American companies are coming to Europe offering short-term liquidity. It has confused the market having all the funds coming to the continent.”
However, bringing other European players into the French system does have its challenges. Not only did the TF1-M6 merger prove to be too difficult for French competition authorities, but Newen’s affiliation with TF1 has also raised eyebrows in the industry. Bessi said Newen continues to “struggle to get access to subsidies because we have access to a company that is part of a French TV channel.”
However, he added: “I think Europe should support its champions and unleash the capacity to challenge on a global scale.
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