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Paramount+ and France Télévisions have confirmed their pact on upcoming, working-titled series Zorro starring Oscar-winning actor Jean Dujardin as the iconic masked vigilante.

The partners revealed a first image of The Artist actor Dujardin in the role in a release and said the show will launch later this year on Paramount+ before being broadcast on France Télévisions.

Paramount+ has also acquired rights for the UK, Italy, Germany and Latin America. France tv distribution is handling sales for all other territories.

News of Dujardin’s and Paramount+’s involvement in the show broke in the French media late last year but today’s release was the partners’ first official confirmation of their co-production and distribution deal.

The new show is set in 1821 and sees Don Diego de la Vega/Zorro become mayor of Los Angeles to improve his beloved city.

However, the city is facing financial trouble due to a local...

The Paris-based media group is launching Federation Meac.

Paris-based media group Federation Studios and its French production house Empreinte Digitale are teaming to launch Federation Meac, a production subsidiary focused on the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean.

It will be run by Empreinte Digitale producer Joachim Landau, now co-founding chairman. The aim is to connect local talent to international projects via productions and co-productions, with 15 films and series already in the works. Manuela Cassuto is head of development.

Landau said the audiovisual market in the Federation Meac territories is “expanding fast with a plethora of excellent writers, directors, actors and producers.

Empreinte Digitale, the thriving Paris-based production company behind Disney +’s “Parallèles,” has hired Thomas Saignes, a well-established producer whose track record includes “Bad Banks” and “Parlement.”

Joining from Cinétévé, Saignes will be in charge of producing drama series and one-offs for streaming services and traditional TV channels, as well as spearheading Empreinte’s international co-productions.

Saignes, who is based in Paris and lived a number of years in Montreal, Canada, has been actively involved in the financing and co-productions of films and series with international and European partners, notably Benoit Jacquot’s period movie “Farewell, my Queen.” Prior to Cinétévé, Saignes worked at the Luxembourg-based company Iris where he was involved in the Zdf-Arte series “Bad Banks” which Federation sold around the world. During his tenure at Cinétévé, Saignes collaborated with veteran producer Fabienne Servan-Schreiber and was a driving force behind several ambitious series, for instance Noé Debré’s political...

Photo: 'The 7 Lives of Lea' I love a good time-travel film or series; the concept of warping something that doesn’t seem mendable or controllable at all leaves me in frighting curiosity. It causes audiences to be on the edges of their seats as they watch with incredible awe and wonder as to how the characters will get out of their out-of-this-world predicament–or whether or not this experience will take them on an even more experimental journey. Even more so, this curious admiration is certainly enhanced when an even more outlandish element is added to the thrilling mixture of the series or film to add even more uniqueness to the experience of watching it. Related Video: Full Commentary on 'Top Gun: Maverick': Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller Related video: 'Top Gun: Maverick' Full Premiere Reactions: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer,...

Bowing in Canneseries official selection, six-episode miniseries “Infiniti” isn’t just for sci-fi aficionados, Empreinte Digitale producer Eric Laroche told Variety.

Co-produced between France and Belgium, the latest Canal Plus offering – created by Stéphane Pannetier and Julien Vanlerenberghe – interweaves multiple storylines, moving from the International Space Station (Iss) that suddenly goes silent to an investigation in Kazakhstan, where a beheaded, wax-covered body is found by a local cop.

Discouraged by his superiors, Isaak (Daniyar Alshinov) decides to solve the mystery, while French astronaut Anna Zarathi (Céline Sallette) pursues her dream of space travel.

“Having more than one genre, especially in a TV series, is very interesting. But one of them still needs to form the skeleton of the show. In our case, it’s the murder mystery,” says Laroche.

“I am not a big traveler, but I live for cinema and for series. The first time I went to New York,...