Banijay CEO Marco Bassetti Criticizes Global Streamers’ Approach To Rights – Mipcom Cannes

The first fully in person Mipcom for three years is winding down as thousands of tired, fuzzy-headed but happy delegates make their way to Nice airport or jump on trains to Paris. The market was set to a backdrop of an industry in a deep state of flux, as new buyers establish themselves and more seasoned ones react and adapt. Below are just some of the key takeaways from three action-packed days on the Croisette. One thing is for sure, while making TV is not the easiest business, the 10,896 attendees RX reported to have attended were simply delighted to be back together in person (last year’s restriction-laden Mipcom was hybrid and attendance figures comparatively low) and the atmosphere was the buzziest for many years, especially when the coffee machines were locked away and the alcohol started flowing. Read on.

SF Studios Acquires Johan Rundberg’s ‘Moonwind & Hoff’ Book SeriesSF Studios has acquired the film rights to Johan Rundberg’s book series Moonwind & Hoff. The series includes the novels The Night Raven, The Queen of Thieves, The Angel of Death, and The Blood Pact. The Night Raven is the first novel that will be adapted, produced, and distributed by SF Studios. The film is expected to start shooting at the beginning of 2024 with a theatrical release in 2025. Stefan H. Lindén and Alexandra Thönnersten, producers at SF Studios, said: “The Night Raven and the entire series about Moonwind & Hoff are exactly in the realm of magical realism that we both dreamed of producing. In many ways, both the world and the characters feel inspiring and exciting. We want to create a grand series of films that can enthrall cinema audiences.”

The Lord of the Rings franchise can reach the $6B-plus scale of Marveland Star Wars, according to the man who brokered the sale of the IP to Sweden’s Embracer Group, who revealed new information about the deal.

Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power season one has had a “halo effect” on the streamer’s other tentpoles such as The Boys and Wheel of Time, according to Studios boss Jennifer Salke.

Marta Balaga Banijay will continue to be innovative and sustainable, CEO Marco Bassetti said at Mipcom.  When asked about the company’s future growth, and a recent SPAC deal, he added:  “It’s helping us not to lose all the opportunities the market can give us. We have all that we need in order to grow, definitely.”  “But our growth should follow a certain strategy. We don’t want to lose our DNA. So far, it has worked.”  Last year, the company produced more than 90 pilots. In October, Banijay confirmed the proposed acquisition of Beyond International Limited. Bassetti also commented on Banijay’s takeover of Endemol Shine.

Fremantle bosses Jennifer Mullin and Andrea Scrosati have dissected the Angelina Jolie deal that is seeing the Oscar winner produce films, TV and docs over the next three years, with Scroasti saying “it was a bit of a risk in the initial phase.”

New Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade has talked up the potential for TMZ to become a “huge entertainment studio,” setting out his stall at Mipcom Cannes for the first time since he replaced Charlie Collier.

BBC DG Tim Davie and Studios CEO Tom Fussell have said the BBC is now a “fully global operation,” as they shared a stage for the first time at Mipcom Cannes.

ITVX and Viaplay four-partner Litvinenko, which will see David Tennant playing the doomed Russian dissident, has sold into 80 territories ahead of its launch. AMC+ and Sundance Now have taken rights in the U.S., while Prime Video bagged Canada from distributor ITV Studios. 

BBC Studios has taken full control of Killing Eve producer Sid Gentle Films.

EXCLUSIVE: Banijay UK CEO Patrick Holland is focusing on M&A and talent, and is rewarding high-performing labels with extra investment as he enters his first Mipcom Cannes in the new role.

EXCLUSIVE: Banijay has bought Chloe producer Mam Tor Productions, the French powerhouse’s first UK buy since 2020’s Endemol Shine Group (ESG) acquisition.

Manori Ravindran International Editor Banijay Group CEO Marco Bassetti may be making a smart marketing move by delivering a Mipcom keynote on Oct. 18, but the Italian executive insists that “PR, for us, comes after.” At the first major TV market for the “Survivor” distributor since its $2.2 billion acquisition of Endemol Shine Group in 2020, Bassetti has a clear message: Producers, including Banijay, need a more equitable business model against the streamers. “It’s the golden age of content, but I’m not sure it’s the golden age of revenue share for producers,” Bassetti tells Variety from Banijay Group’s Paris headquarters in late September. “We need to be careful if we want to continue creating value in the industry. We need to fight to allow producers to keep their model as it was before.”

John Boyega is one of a diminishing number of Hollywood film stars that hasn’t yet dived properly into the world of high-end TV drama. The 30-year-old actor has made several appearances on television—most notably winning plaudits for his searing portrait of a London policeman in Steve McQueen’s multi-award-winning BBC/Prime Video anthology Small Axe—but his career has largely been defined by roles in movies like Attack the Block and the third Star Wars trilogy.

EXCLUSIVE: Warner Bros. Discovery is behind a TV show telling real life stories of people overcoming severe medical conditions to show human bravery, with Netflix’s Amazing on the Inside producer Future Studios and distributor TVF International shopping Unbelievable Me at Mipcom Cannes this week.

Tim Roth-starring Australian drama Last King of the Cross has been picked up by Sky in Europe, marking the first major sale of the Paramount+ series as it heads to Mipcom Cannes.

She’s vaxxed, she’s waxed, and she has more attitude than ever. Bianca Del Rio, everyone’s favourite “queen of mean” is returning to Cape Town and Johannesburg this October with her new comedy tour, Unsanitized.

K.J. Yossman When it was announced earlier this year that U.K. production outfit Lorton had exclusively snagged the most sought-after documentary subject in the country – soccer wife Coleen Rooney (pictured above left, with husband Wayne) – it cemented the label as one of the hottest unscripted producers around. The reason Rooney was such a get was because in 2019 she set up an elaborate social media sting to catch the person she believed was selling stories about the couple to U.K. tabloids. The culprit, Rooney revealed online, was fellow “WAG” (the collective noun for athletes’ wives and girlfriends) Rebekah Vardy. The revelation, which saw Rooney dubbed “WAG-atha Christie” for her sleuthing skills, went viral and sparked a libel lawsuit from Vardy. After three years of legal wrangling, every detail of which was covered by a salivating media, Vardy lost the court case earlier this year. Screen adaptations – both factual and scripted – were inevitable, and Rooney was said to have had her pick of deals to choose from.

EXCLUSIVE: Studiocanal has boarded Borgen creator Adam Price’s Danish workplace comedy Orchestra and will be shopping the show at Mipcom Cannes, as TV series boss Françoise Guyonnet talks The Wicker Man and breaking down barriers between TV and film.