News

Life swings between triumph and failure in the enthralling “El Gran Salto” produced by Atresmedia TV in collaboration with Banijay’s Diagonal TV, the force behind shows such as “Isabel” and “La Catedral del Mar.”

Spanish star Óscar Casas stars as Olympic Gold Medalist gymnast Gervasio Deferr. The series is written by “Bye” scribe José Rodríguez and based on the Olympian’s own book of his struggles.

“Success is like a pendulum; it goes back and forth and is very delicate because if you don’t control it, it can screw up your life,” Deferr’s coach advises in the series opener.

This metaphor sets the tone for a five parter, which chronicles Deferr’s Olympic victories and profound personal struggles. Taking the reins is Catalan Director Roger Gual, “The idea from the beginning was to show the two sides of sports: success and failure. In Gervasio’s case, success came very early,...

Global streamers released 228 original European fiction titles in 2022, up from 2021’s 127, in an uptick led by Netflix, according to research by the European Audiovisual Observatory.

The report, Audiovisual Fiction Production in Europe 2022, states that two-thirds of these fiction titles were commissioned by Netflix, which amounts to 50%, while Amazon clocked 17%.

However, stats displayed in the report state that only 9% of overall fiction titles in Europe were commissioned by global streamers, while public service broadcasters (Psb) continue to lead fiction commissioning, with 56% originating from Psb, followed by private broadcasters at 35%.

Spain and the UK are also identified as the top production destinations for global streamers, with the two countries producing 39 titles each. Streaming productions mounted in Spain and the UK include The Crown, Sex Education, Elite, and Cathedral of the Sea. Other significant production hubs for streamers were the Nordic countries and France.

Elsewhere, international co-productions accounted for 7% of all fiction titles...

In late April, Banijay Iberia moved waves by taking an equity stake in Alex de la Iglesia and Carolina Bang’s Pokeespsie Films, with the aim of scaling up on its Spanish-language high-end original series and fiction production.

Via Shine Iberia, Banijay is also producing biopic “Bosé,” one of Vis’ biggest Spanish-language plays for Paramount Plus, about singer-songwriter Miguel Bosé.

Best known for its entertainment formats – though it does own Barcelona’s Diagonal TV, producer of hit Netflix historical sagas “Cathedral of the Sea” and “Heirs to the Land” and Dlo Producciones, behind “Tell Me Who I Am” and “El Immortal,” – Banijay is now moving to strengthen its position in scripted in the Iberian market and, via it, across the globe.

That is seen at Conecta Fiction, which runs June 21-24 in Toledo, Spain, where Banijay will have one of the biggest presences of any global company at the TV co-production forum,...

Hailed in its day as Spain’s own “Downton Abbey,” period espionage drama “The Time In Between” (“El tiempo entre costuras”), a huge hit in Spain, has been sold to South Korea in a deal between Atresmedia International Sales and Germany-based distributor Jung Consulting.

The series will air this January in South Korea on Smile TV Plus, TVasia Plus and WeeTV.

“We are delighted to be distributing such a successful Spanish series in Korea, together with Atresmedia. We trust the Korean audience will enjoy the series, and that it will allow us to bring more international Spanish series to Korea,” said Woojae Jung, Jung Consulting managing director.

An Atresmedia TV original series about a spying seamstress first released in Oct. 2013, “The Time in Between” went up against “The Voice” and historical hit “Isabel,” averaging an extraordinary 25.5% share and almost 5 million viewers on Antena 3. It made a star out of Adriana Ugarte,...

Documentary

Channel 4 in the U.K. have commissioned Flicker Productions to produce “Football Trolls” (working title), an hour-long documentary on the relationship between social media, racism and soccer, hosted by former Newcastle and Tottenham midfielder-turned BT Sport pundit Jermaine Jenas. The commission comes amid outcry about racial abuse suffered by England players Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka following England’s loss to Italy in the Euro 2020 final. Many Black players in the English Premiere League have suffered targeted, racial abuse on social media for years.

“This film is incredibly important to me and something I’ve been working on for a while. there has been an ongoing conversation surrounding racism and football for as long as I can remember, and the reactions to the Euros has been heart-breaking,” said Jenas in a release. “I’ve felt sick to my stomach reading the comments and chants and promise...

Banijay’s $2.2 billion takeover of Endemol Shine, an Anglo-Dutch group twice its size, has given birth to a rare beast at a critical time. The France-headquartered combined entity ranks as the —, and marks the indie world’s first major M&a deal to be completed in Europe since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

It was never a straightforward deal to begin with: the process took more than two years to materialize following a year of on-and-off courtship and was finally completed after an eight-month antitrust process. Now the real work begins with a post-takeover integration that will take up to six more months. Banijay chairman Stephane Courbit, a self-made French entrepreneur, and his right-hand man, Marco Bassetti, CEO of the combined group, will have to deliver a complicated balancing act to deleverage Endemol Shine, whose debt was at $1.83 billion (as of February), while keeping the talent on board. Here...

Banijay has unveiled its rebranded identity following the completion of its takeover of Endemol Shine Group last week. The combined group, which is headed by Marco Bassetti, CEO, will be entitled Banijay. The Endemol Shine brand is effectively being retired from the new brand.

Banijay’s $2.2 billion deal for Endemol Shine was cleared by the European Commission’s antitrust body last week. Days later, on July 3, the company announced Sophie Turner Laing, CEO of Endemol Shine Group, would be stepping down from her role on July 10.

Boasting 200 entities across 22 countries and a library of 88,000 hours, the French-headquartered group will be the largest non-u.S. content producer and distributor. The group’s well-established banners include Kudos, Filmlance, Rubicon (“Beforeigners”) and Diagonal (“Cathedral of the Sea”) on the Endemol Shine side. Flagship Banijay titles include “Versailles,” “The Inbetweeners” and “Survivor,” while Endemol Shine has “Big Brother,” “MasterChef,” “Black Mirror” and “Peaky Blinders.

Sophie Turner Laing, the CEO of Endemol Shine Group, is stepping down from her role following the takeover by Banijay which received anti-trust clearance from the European Commission earlier this week.

The combined group will be led by Marco Bassetti, the CEO of Banijay Group. Turner Laing’s final day will be July 10.

“This deal bookmarks a creatively rich, commercially successful and relentlessly prolific five and a half years as Endemol Shine Group. It has been a real privilege and honour to lead such a talented and dynamic group of people, each of whom has played their part in, and should be proud of, our many collective successes over this time,” said Turner Laing.

“As the start of an exciting new chapter in the company’s story, it is also the appropriate time for me to step down as CEO, and I wish Marco and his team the very best for the future,...

Banijay’s $2.2 billion deal for Endemol Shine has received clearance from the European Commission’s antitrust regulators. It’s one of the indie content world’s first major M&a deals to be completed in Europe since the start of the coronavirus crisis.

The antitrust ruling from the EC, which was issued on June 30, was the biggest and final hurdle to overcome for Banijay in order to complete its takeover of Endemol Shine from Disney and Apollo Global Management.

In its decision, the EC said it authorized the acquisition, which gives Lov Group exclusive control over the combined Banijay and Endemol Shine.

“The Commission concluded that the [sought-after] acquisition did not raise any antitrust problem considering the presence of a sufficient number of alternative companies which have content portfolios that are similar in the concerned countries,” said the EC.

The deal, which previously received clearance from antitrust authorities in the U.

Smithsonian Channel has been promoted from slot 99 to slot 57 on the Freeview television guide in the UK following the ViacomCBS merger. The channel will also launch on Viacom-owned British broadcaster Channel 5’s streaming service My5 in the coming weeks. “We are thrilled to deepen our footprint in the UK as it’s been truly inspiring to see Smithsonian Channel’s programming resonate so strongly with international audiences,” said Tom Hayden, president of Smithsonian Networks.

Italian broadcaster Mediaset Italy has acquired Netflix’s Spanish period drama Cathedral Of The Sea in a deal with Endemol Shine International. The eight-part show is based on the best-selling novel by Ildefonso Falcones and is produced by Diagonal Televisió, part of Endemol Shine Iberia, for Atresmedia Televisión, Televisió de Catalunya and Netflix. “Cathedral Of

The Sea is a powerful historical drama with huge emotions and great characters,” said Mark Lawrence, executive director Emea,...

Netflix has confirmed that 51 new original series, movies and specials will be debuting on the streaming service in September, including the second season of the Peabody-winning satire “American Vandal” and season 5 of “Bojack Horseman.”

And there will also be new to Netflix seasons of some of your favorites from other networks, including the seventh and final edition of “Once Upon a Time.” Likewise, there will be plenty of movies making their first Netflix appearances including the red-hot Oscar contender “Black Panther.”

Available September 1

10,000 B.C.

Another Cinderella Story

Assassins

August Rush

Bruce Almighty

Delirium

Fair Game

Groundhog Day

King Kong

La Catedral del Mar (Netflix Original)

Martian Child

Monkey Twins (Netflix Original)

Mr. Sunshine

Nacho Libre

Pearl Harbor

Scarface

Sisters (Netflix Original)

Spider-Man 3

Stephanie

Summer Catch

Sydney White

The Ant Bully

The Breakfast Club

The Cider House Rules

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

The Keeping Hours...

Summer is coming to an end, but that doesn’t mean the binge-watching has to stop.

A number of original series and popular movies are hitting Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime in September. New offerings on Netflix include the mega-hit “Black Panther,” along with the streaming giants’ new show “Maniac” with Emma Stone and Jonah Hill. Meanwhile, Amazon Prime is debuting “Forever,” which stars “Saturday Night Live” alums Fred Armisen and Maya Rudolph. Over on Hulu, Sarah Silverman’s “I Love You, America” will drop its second season.

And if you want to get ahead on a horror movie marathon before Halloween, there are also plenty of scary flicks that will be added throughout the month. “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning” is coming to Netflix, while both Amazon and Hulu will carry “The Amityville Horror” and “Jigsaw.”

Check out the full list of titles coming to Netflix, Hulu, and...

Netflix just announced next month’s slate of movies and TV shows coming to the streaming service.

Highlights include the ’80s classic The Breakfast Club and Black Panther, plus buzzy Netflix original Sierra Burgess Is A Loser (justice for Barb, aka Shannon Purser.)

See the full list below:

Avail. 9/1/18

10,000 B.C.

Another Cinderella Story

Assassins

August Rush

Bruce Almighty

Delirium

Fair Game

Groundhog Day

King Kong

La Catedral del Mar: Netflix Original

In 14th-century Barcelona, a serf’s determined climb to wealth and freedom incurs the disdain of the noble class and the suspicion of the Inquisition.

Martian Child...

Netflix is launching its first European production hub in Madrid, targeting Spanish-language production and potentially drama series, which have been a priority and large source of success for the U.S. streaming giant.

The new facility will be located at the Ciudad de la Tele (TV City), a new 22,000-square-meter campus in Tres Cantos, 20 minutes’ drive north of Madrid. It will cater to what Netflix described in a statement Tuesday as its “growing” slate of Spanish-language original content over the coming years, which will cover “new and existing titles produced by Netflix, as well as series and films made by production partners for Netflix.”

The campus is being developed and managed by Spain’s Grupo Secuoya in a multi-year partnership. Grupo Secuoya will provide facility management and other services to Netflix, serving as the exclusive production services partner.

Netflix will take occupancy of three 1,200-square-meter sound stages from September. It...

Madrid — In a deal that further strengthens an already-close relationship, Netflix and Spain’s Atresmedia have agreed to give the streaming TV giant preferential access to TV dramas from Series Atresmedia, the Spanish broadcaster’s TV fiction brand.

The pact endows Netflix with a priority choice over an undisclosed number of Series Atresmedia’s titles to show them exclusively as part of Netflix international offer.

Upcoming Atresmedia TV series to launch via Netflix for the global market encompass high-end hit TV dramas such as “Fariña,” the Galicia-set narco thriller co-produced with Bambú and Beta Film, and “La Catedral del Mar,” a co-production with Diagonal TV which Netflix co-financed and boarded early in development.

This new alliance will help Atresmedia to optimize the economic life of its TV dramas, expanding their internationalization strategy, the Spanish broadcaster said in a statement.

Both companies unveiled in April a licensing accord that allowed Netflix...

Madrid — In an alliance which links three of the potential key players in Spain’s new TV scene, broadcast network Mediaset España and Warner Bros. International TV Production España will produce, with the participation of Netflix, primetime cop thriller “Brigada Costa del Sol.”

Starring Hugo Silva, and set in southern Spain, over 1977-82, “Brigada Costa del Sol” will screen first on Mediaset España’s main Telecinco channel, and then globally on Netflix in a first window and second window for Spain.

Inspired by the history of one of Spain’s first anti-narcotics squads, the Grupo Especial de Estupefacientes Costa del Sol, the thriller, set in Torremolinos, narrates the humble origins but huge success of the operation. Shooting from June 7 on location in Malaga and its environs, the series will mix police procedural with drama, romance and the protagonist’s voice over, given his own “subjective and cynical viewpoint” counterpointing the...