Vuelta co-founders talk building a European sales and theatrical distribution powerhouse

Europe has given rise to several major production and distribution groups over the past 20 years, from Banijay to Fremantle, Mediawan to Newen. A relative latecomer is Vuelta. Even so, since 2022, it has managed to carve out a significant European footprint through a spate of high-profile acquisitions.

They include France’s Playtime Group, the Nordics’ Scanbox Entertainment, Italy’s Indiana Production, Germany’s SquareOne and Telepool, and Benelux’s WW Entertainment. It has also taken stakes in France’s Pan and Italy’s PiperFilm (see below).

It can appear a rather eclectic, disparate mix of companies from the outside. But there is a clear vision for chairman Jerome Levy — one that is different to other European groups focused on production. “We’re much more focused on creating an integrated studio with distribution as its core strength, supported by our own productions,” he says.

Vuelta’s chief creative officer David Atlan-Jackson adds: “The main difference is that we try to create an organic entity collaborating together, rather than a portfolio of companies competing against each other.”

There is also a distinct theatrical focus to Vuelta Group compared with other TV-focused European production giants. “They have such strong relationships with the broadcasters that we knew we couldn’t compete,” says Atlan-Jackson.

In spirit, Vuelta seems closer to European groups such as Studiocanal and Wild Bunch, which have deep roots in film. PolyGram also seems an earlier model, although that was focused on English-language content. “We all come from film,” says Atlan-Jackson. “For us, it was simpler to start with distribution, which is the cornerstone of financing.”

However, TV is still an important element — Indiana Production, for example, was behind Netflix’s acclaimed adaptation of historical drama The Leopard.

Team players

Both Levy and Atlan-Jackson are based in Paris, although Vuelta is headquartered in Dublin, home to the company’s finance, legal and m&a team. Levy was previously a co-founder of media-focused investment bank Mesa, advising companies such as Endemol and Banijay, before selling it to investment bank Houlihan Lokey. He then started investing in media, including Archie Comics, the publisher whose characters have spun off into TV series including Riverdale and Sabrina The Teenage Witch.

Atlan-Jackson, meanwhile, was co-founder of French film financier and producer Backup Media Group. The two have known each other for more than 20 years, with Levy a longtime friend of Atlan-Jackson’s brother.

Levy was mulling his next move after selling his stake in Archie Comics to a private equity group, and zeroed in on distributing local European content. “I thought there was no European player in distribution on a European scale beside Studio­canal,” says Levy.

He was discussing this with Atlan-Jackson’s brother, who suggested David might be a good partner. “We quickly saw eye to eye on the need to create a European studio to be the home of European talents,” recalls Levy.

For his part, Atlan-Jackson had tried to forge a European distribution group in the pre-Covid era. He had started Backup Media 20 years before, building experience in production finance, co-production and sales. Backup had invested in two leading European distribution outfits: France’s The Jokers Films and Benelux’s Cineart. It had also lined up investments in Germany, Italy, Scandinavia and Switzerland.

“But when we tried to fundraise, the timing wasn’t right,” recalls Atlan-Jackson. Streaming platforms were growing fast and acquiring film rights aggressively. “Investors told us cinema was dead, that people were going to watch films on platforms.”

Atlas-Jackson eventually left Backup in 2022, having sold back its shares to The Jokers and Cineart. Levy got in touch a couple of months later. “He had the same idea to create a distribution studio throughout Europe,” recalls Atlan-Jackson. Crucially, he also had financial support for the plan.

Vuelta is backed with $100m in funding from US private equity outfit Great Mountain Partners, an investor in A24 and leading independent music rights company Concord Music Publishing (home to Creedence Clear­water Revival, R.E.M. and Rodgers & Hammerstein). “Their expertise in media, in finance and in how to build companies makes them a great partner,” says Levy.

Building a portfolio

To date, Vuelta’s acquisitions have focused on its ambition to create a distribution-focused European studio active in production and sales. Scanbox, which was announced as part of the original launch in July 2023, has since pushed out from its origins as a leading Scandinavian distributor of titles such as The Life Of Chuck, The Penguin Lessons and Babygirl to start producing its own films. They include Alexander Payne’s first European feature, the upcoming Somewhere Out There starring Renate Reinsve.

Benelux’s WW Entertainment, which distributed 2024’s top-grossing Dutch film Loverboy: Emotions Off, is also set to launch its own production division. Vuelta has a stake in French production and distribution group Pan, which last year released local box-office sensation A Little Something Extra (Un P’tit Truc En Plus). Pan releases around 12 films a year, of which three to five are produced in-house.

In Germany, meanwhile, Vuelta is active through its purchases of SquareOne and Telepool, which have merged to create production and distribution group Vuelta Germany. The outfit represents a library of more than 1,000 titles for German-speaking Europe, including The Imitation Game, Olympus Has Fallen and French hit Intouchables.

Vuelta also has a stake in Italian distribution outfit PiperFilm, which is releasing Paolo Sorrentino’s Venice opener La Grazia. The plan is for PiperFilm to collaborate with Indiana Production to distribute its projects.

In total, Vuelta’s various European labels distribute around 100 films a year, from in-house productions to third-party movies spanning European to US independent features. “We do everything from arthouse to commercial comedy,” says Levy.

The ambition is to make Vuelta “a home for European talents”, adds Levy, helping to distribute their work and build their profiles throughout Europe. The partners want to “accelerate” the distribution of local content — whether Italian, German or French — to audiences across the continent.

“We have the capacity to co-produce and bring local talent — actors, writers, directors — to different productions, and to bring our distributors on board to make more ambitious projects,” says Levy.

So is the plan to take a locally produced film and release it on a pan-European basis through the Vuelta network of distributors? “We definitely can, but we don’t have a fixed way of working,” says Atlan-Jackson.

“We don’t have a push policy on distribution,” adds Levy. “We let the local teams pick what they want to distribute because they know the market better.”

Atlan-Jackson cites the example of Alexander Payne’s Scanbox-produced film: “It was greenlit with all our distributors involved — they pre-bought the film to distribute.” However, Searchlight Pictures subsequently acquired worldwide rights excluding Scandinavia. “Searchlight made an offer that was too good to turn down in terms of us hedging our risk,” explains Levy.

He also mentions upcoming feature Buen Camino, a $30m (€26m) comedy starring Checco Zalone produced by Italy’s Indiana Production. “One of the reasons [Zalone] came to us is that we could offer him distribution in all our territories. And we offered that straight away,” says Atlan-Jackson. “He is famous in Italy but his goal is to be more famous outside Italy.”

Vuelta’s labels are incentivised to work together through the structure of its company acquisition deals, which are a mixture of cash and shares in the group. “Everybody shares the same [profit & loss statement] within Vuelta,” says Levy. “So if I ask France to distribute an Italian film because it is important for the Italian production company that has promised a local talent a release in France, they’re going to do it even if it’s a break-even operation for them, because it generates a lot of profit in Italy and the French partner is a shareholder in the Vuelta entity.”

Sales focus

Vuelta Group also has a major presence in the international sales market. Its portfolio includes French sales outfit Playtime, whose slate hosts Nanni Moretti’s next feature It Will Happen Tonight (Pan is also co-producing) and Cannes 2025 Competition title Eagles Of The Republic.

European sales banners Films Boutique, Be For Film and Film Constellation are also part of Vuelta, joining when the group acquired their parent company Playtime in 2023. So too is Global Constellation, created earlier this year through a merger of Film Constellation and Telepool’s sales arm Global Screen. The newest addition is PiperPlay, launched as a partnership between Playtime and Italy’s PiperFilm.

However, films repped by Vuelta’s sales companies will not automatically find a home with the group’s distributors. Atlan-Jackson cites the example of Cannes Camera d’Or winner The President’s Cake, sold by Films Boutique. It is being distributed by Vuelta Germany, but not by its other European distributors.

So will Vuelta’s sales companies represent Vuelta productions? Not necessarily, says Levy, because some producers have strong existing relationships with other sales companies. But ideally, the intent is to sell most of what its companies produce or distribute locally.

It is about the best fit for the producer, says Levy, noting that each sales company has its own personality. Films Boutique is rooted in world cinema, representing titles including Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed Of The Sacred Fig. Be For Film has more of a focus on emerging — often female — directors (see Tamara Stepanyan’s Locarno opener In The Land Of Arto). Global Constellation “is where a lot of the English-language content will go through”, as well as German content, animation and TV projects. PiperPlay will focus on Italian productions, while Playtime “is a bit of everything but mostly driven by strong French productions”.

Each sales label is independent but they co-operate, holding group acquisition meetings “to be sure we don’t cannibalise ourselves, and projects go to where it’s more natural”, says Atlan-Jackson. Sales companies save money by sharing key services, such as co-ordination of materials, delivery and festival management.

Looking ahead

For now, Vuelta’s m&a activity has paused. “We are very much in the integration phase,” explains Levy. But the company is embarking on another fundraising round as it looks to expand further. Great Mountain Partners will remain invested, and Vuelta is looking to raise an additional $50m-$100m, this time from European financing sources.

Presumably, this is because, as a majority US-owned company, it will make it easier for Vuelta labels to access European subsidies from the likes of Creative Europe or France’s CNC. “It would,” concurs Levy. “We’re working within the rules of Creative Europe and the CNC and so on. It’s more a perception issue than anything.”

The EU is increasingly concerned about cultural sovereignty, in particular growing levels of US ownership in the media and tech spaces. For Atlan-Jackson, it is better to be on the “safe side” and have greater European ownership.

Looking ahead, Vuelta is eyeing further expansion in distribution in Spain and Poland. “They are territories that would complete the jigsaw when it comes to m&a,” says Levy. But for the moment there will be no expansion into the UK market. “The economics are very challenging in the UK,” says Levy. “The cinemas keep a lot of the rentals and the market share from the studios is large, so it doesn’t leave much space for independents.” (The revenue split for theatrical releases in the UK is around 70%-30% in favour of the exhibitor.)

Vuelta is also exploring options for a direct-to-consumer streaming platform. “It hasn’t been decided whether we’re going to go into AVoD, SVoD or anything — but we think we need to find a better way to exploit a library of content,” explains Levy. This could be through a partnership or investment in a platform.

As for current market conditions, Vuelta’s founders sound cautiously optimistic, despite ongoing challenges around inflation, broadcaster and streamer retrenchment, and a weaker post-Covid box office. On the plus side, streamers have changed their strategy since Atlan-Jackson first envisaged setting up a European studio in his Backup days.

“They are very happy to be partners rather than owning 100% of a project,” he says. “It’s a good omen for us.” Rather than buying everything for release on their platforms, “we have access to these projects — we can co-finance with them locally and internationally”.

But the market is “very binary”, he warns. “Everyone seems to want the same projects, so the price of these projects is highly inflationary. And there is no alternative [option] for the other projects. It is a win-or-lose-everything situation at the moment.”

Levy is also positive on the future of theatrical, noting that platforms see the benefits of a cinema release, and highlighting Canal+’s deal to acquire a stake in French exhibition giant UGC. Younger audiences are also increasingly going to cinemas, he observes, even as audiences remain very discerning.

“Films have to be outstanding, not necessarily in terms of quality but in terms of proposition,” says Atlan-Jackson. “Something in a familiar mould is not going to work. Audiences want to be surprised, they want to be challenged — they want to be looking at something new.” 

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