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Less than three months after being tapped CEO of Banijay France, Alexia Laroche-Joubert, a well-known industry figure, has enlisted Authentic Media, a leading French premium scripted banner that will join the “Peaky Blinders” production-distribution powerhouse.

The acquisition of Authentic Media, who produced hit French adaptations of series such as “Rita” and “This is Us,” took a couple of years to materialize and will further bolster Banijay France’s portfolio of scripted labels. These include the in-house outfits Banijay Studio France and Shine Fiction; as well as Fiction’Air (“Les Disparus de la Forêt Noire”); Terence Films (“Rivière-Perdue”); Montmartre; Screen Line (“Trash”); and Marathon, which has three series in development.

Founded in 2011 by Aline Panel, Authentic Media’s production output spans drama, film, and documentary. With 15 projects in development, the company has developed seven seasons of “Sam,” based on the Nordic series hit “Rita” which was created by Christian Torpe for...

Apple TV+ will be tapping into France’s lavish culinary heritage with “Carême,” a new original series about the world’s first celebrity chef, Antonin Carême, which will be directed by Martin Bourboulon (“The Three Musketeers: d’Artagnan”).

Set in the 19th century, the eight-episode French drama will chart the sprawling story of Carême, who rose from humble beginnings in Paris to the height of culinary stardom in Napoleon’s Europe. He not only became an iconic chef, he also became a spy for France as his talent and ambitions attracted the attention of powerful politicians, including Napoleon. The series will shed light on the miserable reality of 19th century kitchens, contrasting with the opulence of the mansions and sophisticated of aristocrats.

“Carême” will be led by a starry French cast, including Benjamin Voisin, the Cesar-winning actor of “Lost Illusions” and “Summer of 85″ in the title role. Voisin will star opposite...

Banijay Rights has closed a major sale on its French drama series “Serial Lover” to Spanish broadcaster Atresmedia.

“Serial Lover” marks the debut series for Banijay France’s label Shine Fiction, which is co-producing with Amaury Fournial from Sibaro Films.

Written by Alice Den Broek and directed by Fred Berthe, “Serial Lover”‘s synopsis bills the show as “the story of a shrewd man who lives many different lives – a pilot, a surgeon, a broker, a journalist; developing a new personality for every identity and deceiving experts in each field. Handsome, charming, and attentive, exhilarated by his power, the deception becomes an art form as he manipulates all those around him, especially women who he targets and steals from. How many women have fallen in this trap?”

The series has been ordered by M6 in France. The deal with Atresmedia was negotiated by Marion Vergnaud, SVP Italy, Iberia & Malta, Banijay Rights.

Singer-songwriter and actress Nolwenn Leroy will lead Brocéliande, a thriller drama series for France’s TF1. Filming on a six-part series is underway in Brittany.

Leroy will play admired biologist Fanny Legoff, who returns to Brocéliande University from Paris after 15 years in Paris after leaving under suspicion she was involved in the disappearance of her friend Laura. She goes back after receiving a machete with dried blood in the post along with a letter accusing her of being responsible, and takes part in a seminar but a student soon disappears in a similar way to Laura as history repeats.

Banijay France label Shine Fiction is co-producing with Les Films du Printemps, with Banijay Rights taking international sales. Isabelle Polin, Thomas Boullé and Eric Delafosse are writing, with Bruno Garcia directing.

Dominique Farrugia, Managing Director and Producer at Shine Fiction called the series “an important milestone in solidifying Shine Fiction’s...

Exclusive: French network M6 has ordered a drama about a man who manipulates women and turns deception into an art form.

The commission marks a debut series for Banijay France label Shine Fiction, which is co-producing Serial Lover with Amaury Fournial from Sibaro Films. Banijay Rights takes international sales.

Written by Alice Den Broek and directed by Fred Berthe, Serial Lover‘s synopsis bills the show as “the story of a shrewd man who lives many different lives – a pilot, a surgeon, a broker, a journalist; developing a new personality for every identity and deceiving experts in each field. Handsome, charming, and attentive, exhilarated by his power, the deception becomes an art form as he manipulates all those around him, especially women who he targets and steals from. How many women have fallen in this trap?”

“For the victims, the consequences are heavy, they become isolated from their families, humiliated,...

Banijay has announced that its French scripted label, Endemol Shine Fiction, is rebranding as Shine Fiction and has already signed several important development deals under the new banner. The announcement was made during a Series Mania panel lead by Banijay’s head of scripted Lars Blomgren which included Shine Fiction managing director Dominique Farrugia among the guests.

Farrugia, who has been managing director since November of last year, will stay on in her current position and head the updated label. She is tasked with maintaining a full pipeline of ambitious high-end content for the French market which also has international potential.

Straight out of the gates, Shine Fiction has closed a deal with talent agent Camille Trumer for the rights to adapt the bestselling novels of French author Pierre Lemaitre. His novels “The Great Swindle” (“See You Up There”) and “Three Days and a Life” have already been adapted as...

Banijay France has entered a joint venture with seasoned French industry player Malika Abdellaoui to launch Marathon Studio, as part of its strategy to ramp up its output in the scripted landscape.

Abdellaoui was previously managing director of Newen Distribution, the production and distribution company owned by French’s biggest TV network TF1 Group. Prior to joining Newen, Abdellaoui was deputy director of TV sales at EuropaCorp, as well as senior acquisition manager at the Disney Channel for France and Emea. Abdellaoui will be the majority shareholder of Marathon Studio. Banijay France’s CEO François de Brugada pointed out that Marathon is a renowned brand name in France and “is one that Banijay has owned for some time.” Marathon was a subsidiary of Zodiak Media, which was bought by Banijay in 2016.

Banijay France also recently tapped French film and TV veteran Dominique Farrugia to take the leadership of Banijay’s production label EndemolShine Fiction,...

In today’s Global Bulletin, the European Film Academy and Berlin Film Festival call for Nasrin Sotoudeh’s immediate release from prison, Banijay appoints Dominique Farrugia as managing director for Endemol Shine in France, Amazon Prime Video announces a slate of sports docs in Spain, and the World Congress of Science and Factual Producers preps for December’s digital edition.

Call To Action

The European Film Academy and Berlin International Film Festival have released a joint call for the immediate release of writer and human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, featured in Jafar Panahi’s Golden Bear-winning “Taxi Teheran.”

Sotoudeh was arrested in June 2018 and sentenced to more than 30 years in prison and 148 whiplashes on charges many claim are dubious at best. Since Aug. 11 she has been on hunger strike as a response to inaction in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic at Teheran’s infamous Evin prison. She is currently in critical condition and,...

Zhang Ziyi to attend screening of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Cannes’s Cinema de la Plage free beach screening series will include Boyz N The Hood as a tribute to the late John Singleton.

The Los Angeles-set crime drama will screen on May 23 and has history with the festival. It screened in Un Certain Regard in 1991, and went on to earn best directing and best screenwriting Oscar nominations for Singleton.

The filmmaker became the first African American to receive an Academy Award directing nod and remains the youngest director to do so. Singleton died on April 29 aged 51.

Zhang Ziyi will...

“Easy Rider,” Dennis Hopper’s landmark counter-culture film, is leading the Cannes Classics lineup at 2019’s Cannes Film Festival in honor 0f the movie’s 50th anniversary this year.

Hopper’s “Easy Rider” returns to the festival after being nominated for the Palme d’Or in 1969 and winning Hopper a prize for Best First Work.

The lineup also includes a special midnight screening of “The Shining” as presented by Alfonso Cuarón, the 25th anniversary of the cult film “La Cité de la peur,” a spotlight on three films from Spanish and Mexican surrealist Luis Buñuel, the attendance of director Lina Wertmüller, a look back at the 1951 Palme d’Or winner “Miracle in Milan” from Italian director Vittorio De Sica, a tribute to the late Milos Forman, and a screening of the first ever Japanese animated film shown in color.

Also Read: Directors' Fortnight Announces Lineup, 16 Directors to Make Cannes Debut

Finally,...

This year’s Cannes Classics lineup has been announced, with one screening immediately catching the eye: Alfonso Cuarón presenting the remastered version of “The Shining.” The “Roma” filmmaker will be on hand to introduce Stanley Kubrick’s horror classic, which is in the program alongside “Easy Rider,” three films from Luis Buñuel, Lina Wertmüller’s “Seven Beauties,” two from Milos Forman, and many others.

The full lineup:

The 50 years of the mythical “Easy Rider”

Presented half a century ago on the Croisette, in Competition at the Festival de Cannes, the film won the Prize for a first work. Co-writer, co-producer and lead actor, Peter Fonda will be in Cannes at the invitation of the Festival to celebrate this anniversary.

“Easy Rider” by Dennis Hopper

Restored in 4K by Sony Pictures Entertainment in collaboration with Cineteca di Bologna. Restored from the 35mm Original Picture Negative and 35mm Black and White Separation Masters.

Leading French pay-tv group Canal Plus has renewed its contract with French film guilds to invest up to €180 million ($205 million) per year in local and European movies from 2019 to 2023.

The Vivendi-owned French paybox agreed to invest whichever is the greater of two amounts: 12.5% of annual revenue, or between €2.38 ($2.70) and €3.61 ($4.10) per subscriber (depending on the subscriber package). The maximum investment will be capped at $205 million per year – the first time a cap has been put in place.

Although the amount of Canal Plus’ investment has fallen over the past few years – from €211 million in 2013 to an all-time low of €142 million ($240.4 million) last year – because of declining revenues, it’s still one of the biggest commitments of any European broadcaster to funding local movies.

In addition, Studiocanal, the film and TV division of Canal Plus, will now be allowed to produce, in house, four feature films per year. Nicolas Dumont and...

Marvel Studios' "Iron Man 2" ruled the foreign theatrical circuit over the weekend for the second straight stanza, taking the No. 1 spot with $58.4 million from 10,774 locations in 61 markets, and hoisting its accumulated overseas boxoffice total to $194.2 million.

That puts the sequel to 2008's "Iron Man" $70.8 million shy of the original's total foreign gross after only 12 days of international play (it began its offshore run on April 28). Of the cume so far, $188 million was derived from territories handled by Paramount International, which is handling "Iron man 2" costarring Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow in most offshore markets.

"Iron Man 2" got a huge weekend boost from its China opening where the Jon Favreau-directed sequel drew an estimated $7.3 million from about 3,000 situations.

Paramount reports the China opening tally is a full 209% better than "Iron Man's" comparable opening market figure. In Germany (via local distributor Concorde), "Iron Man 2" opened No.

PARIS -- French broadcaster Canal Plus said on Monday that it had almost doubled its stake in theme channel Comedie to 34% by exercising an option to acquire the 15.3% shares held by French production house Rigolo Films 2000. French actor and producer Olivier Granier, who runs Rigolo Films along with Dominique Farrugia, will step down from his post as head of the humor channel as a result of the acquisition, a spokesman for the channel said. His deputy, Mireille Duteil, will succeed him. Launched in 1997 as a joint venture between Canal Plus, Rigolo Films and Pathe, which continues to control 66% of the local channel, Comedie features serials and comedy shows such as Saturday Night Live. It is available in France via cable distributors and through Canal Plus' satellite platform CanalSatellite. The channel is also distributed in Switzerland, Belgium, and Luxembourg, and in French-speaking territories including Guadeloupe and Martinique.