Banijay Group is the world's largest independent content creation Group for television and multimedia platforms. Banijay Group is present in 16 territories.
Banijay Group is the world's largest independent content creation Group for television and multimedia platforms. Banijay Group is present in 16 territories.

Tag Archive: Matt Creasey

  1. Banijay Rights Courts Marie Antoinette Stateside

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    Banijay Rights, the global distribution arm of Banijay, today announces the pre-sale of new eight-part historical drama Marie Antoinette to PBS Distribution in the US, as MIPCOM 2022 gets under way. The series will have its North American premiere in Spring 2023.

    Produced by Banijay Studios France, CAPA Drama and Les Gens, the acquisition marks the latest international deal for this CANAL+ Creation Originale and follows recent Banijay Rights pre-sales to UK public broadcaster BBC2 and BBC First in Australia.

    Created and written by Deborah Davis (The Favourite), Marie Antoinette tells the story of the incredibly modern and avant-garde young queen, played by Emilia Schüle (Ku’damm 56/ 63). Joining Davis in writing the ambitious drama is Louise Ironside (The Split), Avril E. Russell (All on a Summer’s Day) and Chloë Moss (Run Sister Run). The series is directed by Pete Travis (Bloodlands) and Geoffrey Enthoven (Children of Love).

    The latest agreement was negotiated by Matt Creasey, EVP Sales, Acquisitions and Co-productions, Banijay Rights, who said: “As MIPCOM gets started this week, I’m excited to announce PBS’ acquisition of Marie Antoinette, a visually stunning drama from the exceptional Deborah Davis that continues to generate a buzz worldwide. This epic series is one of the most complete accounts of the young queen to date and we’re pleased that audiences in the US will get to enjoy it soon.”


    Germaine Sweet, Managing Director Content Acquisitions, PBS Distribution, added: “We are thrilled to bring the story of Marie Antionette to audiences in the US. This richly drawn period drama about the extraordinary young queen is sure to enthral PBS fans from the opening scene until the credits roll.”

    Marie Antoinette is produced by Claude Chelli and Margaux Balsan for Capa Drama, Stéphanie Chartreux for Banijay Studios France, and Christophe Toulemonde for Les Gens. Filming took place in many prestigious historical places including the Châteaux of Versailles, Vaux-le-Vicomte, Lésigny, Champs, Voisins, and in the emblematic studios of Bry-sur-Marne.

    Marie Antoinette was a young teenager when she left Austria to marry the Dauphin of France. Growing from a stubborn young princess navigating the rules of the French court under pressure to continue the Bourbon line, to a true fashion icon, she impressed with her natural charisma, and recreated life in Versailles in her image: free, independent and feminist ahead of time. Even with rumours undermining her reputation, the notorious figure would defeat the enemies of the Versailles court with courage and dignity.

  2. EPIX® Renews Drama Series Domina for Season Two

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    Premium network EPIX® announced today that the historical drama Domina will return for an eight-episode second season. The series will be produced by Tiger Aspect, in association with EPIX Studios, following an agreement with leading global distributor Banijay Rights.

    The epic, sweeping drama series takes place during one of the most provocative periods in Roman history, following the extraordinary rise of Gaius, Emperor Augustus Caesar’s third wife, Livia Drusilla, played by Kasia Smutniak (Perfetti Sconosciuti, Loro, Devils).  Domina is scheduled to begin production this spring at the historic Cinecittà Studios in Rome and is scheduled to premiere on EPIX in 2023, with the second season also returning to Sky across Europe in 2023.

    Domina season two chronicles the struggle for control of the Roman Empire, and of Rome’s Imperial Family from a rare female perspective.  In its first season, Livia Drusilla, the golden girl of the prominent Claudii family returned to Rome after ten years in exile, determined to regain everything that was stolen from her.  Now, atop a fractious empire, and a dysfunctional dynasty, she must fight to preserve her marriage to Gaius and find a way to seat one of her sons on the throne as new and old rivals jockey for position in a world where it’s impossible to know who to trust.

    “The first season of Domina drove the largest total cross-platform audience average for any EPIX freshman series in 2021,” said EPIX President Michael Wright. “Audiences were drawn to the fresh vantage point of a period drama with a female-dominated perspective featuring a powerful performance by Kasia Smutniak who leads a strong ensemble cast. Season two promises viewers an even more compelling and exciting ride from Creator Simon Burke and Executive Producers Lucy Bedford, Muirinn Lane Kelly and Carmel Maloney.”

    Matt Creasey, EVP Sales, Co-productions and Acquisitions, Banijay Rights, added, “Domina is an epic historical drama that portrays a different side of Ancient Rome – one that charts the rise of one of the most powerful women of the time. We’re delighted that Simon Burke’s powerful Roman family saga will return for a second season on EPIX with an ensemble cast and even more riveting plot line.”

    Lucy Bedford, Head of Drama, Tiger Aspect and Executive Producer said; “We’re thrilled to be partnering with EPIX to return the extraordinary DOMINA to our screens. Season two will plunge us back into the intrigue and corruption of ancient Rome, as the indomitable Livia Drusilla fights to maintain her position in a world in which the quest for power is pursued at any cost.  This time Livia’s hands will get very dirty, and the price will be higher than even she can imagine.”

    Smutniak leads an international ensemble cast featuring Matthew McNulty (Misfits) as Gaius, Emperor Augustus; Claire Forlani (Meet Joe Black) as Octavia, Gaius’ sister; Christine Bottomley (The End of the F***ing World) as Scribonia, Gaius’ second wife and Livia’s mortal enemy; Ben Batt (Captain America: The First Avenger) as Agrippa, Gaius’ childhood friend, then general and later consul.

    The series is created by Simon Burke (Fortitude, Strike Back), with Burke, Lucy Bedford, Muirinn Lane Kelly and Carmel Maloney as executive producers. EPIX has the U.S. rights, with the second season returning to Sky across Europe in 2023. Banijay Rights is the worldwide distributor.

  3. Banijay Rights Secures Nordic Scripted Deal With NENT Group’s Viaplay in US

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    Banijay Rights today announces it has signed a comprehensive package deal for more than a dozen of its premium scripted titles with Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT Group), ahead of the launch of its Viaplay streaming service in the US in late 2021.

    The agreement will give Viaplay subscribers in the US access to more than 250 hours of Banijay Rights’ critically acclaimed Nordic drama titles, including Norwegian culture-clash comedy Countrymen, which won the High School Best Series Prize and Special Interpretation Award for Cast at Canneseries last month.

    The extensive scripted deal was brokered by Matt Creasey for Banijay Rights.

    Matt Creasey, EVP Sales, Acquisitions and Coproductions – World (excluding EMEA), Banijay Rights, said: “Our catalogue contains a stunning range of premium stand-out Nordic titles including Norwegian sensation Countrymen and Swedish drama A Class Apart, and we are thrilled to be working with NENT Group to ensure this package deal will become a cornerstone of Viaplay’s launch in the US.”

    Countrymen (8 x 60’) sees four men with dubious plans move to a farm in the rural Norwegian countryside where, more or less against their will, they end up as the founders of Norway’s first halal cheesemaking business. Countrymen is a production from Banijay Norwegian label Rubicon for public broadcaster NRK in coproduction with Arte France.

    The deal also includes A Class Apart (8 x 60’), a drama series from Banijay Swedish label Jarowskij. The series is set at Sweden’s top ranked boarding high school which is home to a secret society for the most affluent students, the Zebra Club. On the night of the new semester, the selected few indulge in the hazing of two new members. The following morning, one of them is found dead.

    Both A Class Apart and Countrymen will be premieres in the North American market.

     Among the other titles from the Banijay Rights catalogue included in the agreement with NENT Group are two seasons of Jarowskij thriller Black Lake (16 x 60’) and Dystopia (8 x 60’); seasons one to five of crime drama Gåsmamman (42 x 60’), from Banijay Nordics; the first two seasons of Swedish science fiction drama Real Humans (20 x 60’), from Matador Film and SVT; seasons one to six of Jarowskij TV4 series Solsidan (60 x 30’); The Councilman (10 x 30’) from Rubicon; and seasons one to nine of The Sandhamn Murders (15 x 60’ and 4 x 120’), produced by Filmlance International in coproduction  with TV4, C More, ZDF, ZDF Enterprises with Endemol Shine International, TV2 Norge, DR and YLE.

    In the US, Viaplay will also show the first two seasons of Swedish crime sensation Wallander (26 x 90’) from Banijay label Yellow Bird; and seasons one and two of Wallander UK (6 x 90’), which Yellow Bird coproduced along with Left Bank Pictures, TKBC with Masterpiece, TV4, Film i Skåne and the Copenhagen Film Fund. High-end crime drama Wisting (10 x 60’), from Cinenord and Good Company Films in coproduction with Viaplay, Degeto Film, TV3 Norway and Ripple World Pictures, also forms part of the NENT Group deal, as well as the first two seasons of The Third Eye (20 x 60’), from Banijay Nordics, and Yellow Bird’s The Truth Will Out (8 x 60’).

  4. EPIX, Banijay Rights Take SAS: Rogue Heroes to US

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    Premium network EPIX today announced it has acquired the major new six-part limited series SAS: Rogue Heroes from global distributor Banijay Rights.

    In a deal negotiated by Banijay Rights’ Matt Creasey, EVP Sales, Co-Productions and Acquisitions, the acquisition marks the first international deal for SAS: Rogue Heroes.

    Produced by Kudos and Nebulastar for EPIX and BBC, SAS: Rogue Heroes is a dramatized account of how the world’s greatest Special Forces unit, the SAS, was formed under extraordinary circumstances in the darkest days of World War Two. Based on Ben Macintyre’s best-selling book of the same name, the series centers on David Stirling, an eccentric young officer, who is hospitalized after a training exercise gone wrong. Convinced that traditional commando units don’t work, Stirling creates a radical plan that flies in the face of all accepted rules of modern warfare. He fights for permission to recruit the toughest, boldest, and brightest soldiers for a small undercover unit that will create mayhem behind enemy lines. More rebels than soldiers, Stirling’s team is every bit as complicated, flawed, and reckless as it is brave and heroic.

     

    SAS: Rogue Heroes is developed for television and written by Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders, Taboo, A Christmas Carol) and will be directed by Tom Shankland (The Serpent, The Missing), with Stephen Smallwood (The Serpent, Patrick Melrose) as producer. The series is executive produced by Karen Wilson, Martin Haines and Emma Kingsman-Lloyd for Kudos, and Tommy Bulfin for the BBC.  Commissioned by the BBC, SAS: Rogue Heroes will premiere on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK.

     

    Connor Swindells (Sex Education, Vigil) will play David Stirling, with Jack O’Connell (Skins, The North Water) as Paddy Mayne, Alfie Allen (Jojo Rabbit, Game of Thrones) as Jock Lewes, Tom Glynn-Carney (Dunkirk, The King) as SAS Founding member Mike Sadler, and Sofia Boutella (Modern Love, Atomic Blonde) as Eve. Dominic West (The Wire, Appropriate Adult) will play Lieutenant Colonel Wrangel Clarke.

    “Steven Knight and Kudos have created a gripping historical drama that complements EPIX’s lineup of elevated, cinematic  storytelling,” said Michael Wright, President, EPIX & President MGM Scripted Television. “We’re delighted to be teaming up with Banijay Rights to give this series an exclusive home on EPIX for the American audience.”

     

    “SAS: Rogue Heroes is a masterstroke of a series from the visionary Steven Knight, packed with a stellar cast who bring this fantastic story to life. We are thrilled that EPIX have come on board to take this fantastic drama to a wider US audience,” said Matt Creasey, EVP Sales, Co-Productions and Acquisitions, Rest of the World, Banijay Rights.

     

    Martin Haines, Co-Managing Director of Kudos added: “EPIX is a perfect partner that shares our vision and ambition. We are delighted they are our US partners on this epic show.”

     

    The series will also star Amir El Masry (Industry, The One), Theo Barklem-Biggs (The First Team, Carnival Row), Corin Silva (The Bay, Emmerdale), Jacob Ifan (Bang, The Accident), Dónal Finn (Cursed, The Witcher), Jacob McCarthy (The Last Summer, A.P. Bio), César Domboy (Outlander, The Walk), Michael Schaeffer (Chernobyl, The Salisbury Poisonings) and Miles Jupp (The Great, The Durrells).

    Commissioned by the BBC, SAS: Rogue Heroes will premiere on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK.

     

  5. Banijay Rights New Sales Structure in LATAM, Canada and German-Speaking Territories

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    Global distributor Banijay Rights, today announces its new sales structure in LATAM, Canada and German-speaking territories under the overarching leadership of CEO, Cathy Payne.

     

    In Latin America, Michelle Wasserman will be leading the charge in selling both finished tape and formats across the continent as SVP Latam, Brazil and US Hispanic. Long integral to the company’s formats business, she has orchestrated format sales for MasterChef into 13 countriesand 14 of My Name Is across the region, alongside managing over 40 format productions per year. Her remit will now expand to finish tape sales.

     

    Joining her in the Miami office is new hire, Ivania Zamora, who takes up the role of VP, Latam.

     

    Having handled the Latam and US Hispanic finished tape sales for the past ten years, Veronique Verges is joining the EMEA team as SVP German-speaking territories, Poland & Hungary. Now based in London, she will report to Tim Mutimer EVP, EMEA. Before transitioning out of her role in Latin America last month, Verges closed several high-value package deals with the likes of, Amazon, Turner and Discovery, surpassing 1600 hours.

     

    Elsewhere, Jane Rimer is officially announced as SVP, Canada. Since joining late last year, she has already completed significant deals including sealing the first iteration of Celebrity Big Brother in French Canada.

     

    Both Jane and Michelle, will report directly into Matt Creasey EVP Sales, Acquisitions and Coproductions – World (excluding EMEA).

     

    With a catalogue of 95,000 hours of multi-genre content, the Banijay Rights team has a wealth of top-quality programming available for audiences around the world. New series highlights for 2021 include crime drama Viewpoint, and gripping new action-drama RFDS: Royal Flying Doctors Service. Singing entrainment formats Fame Maker and A Star in the Star and popular factual returning hits Temptation Island, Lego Masters, and Wipeout.

     

  6. Banijay Rights Sells Four-Part Fifty Fathoms Drama ‘ADULT MATERIAL’ to US Streaming Platform HBO Max

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    Banijay Rights, the leading distribution arm of Banijay,  today announces WarnerMedia streaming platform, HBO Max, has acquired 4 x 60’ drama series, Adult Material, in a deal negotiated by Matt Creasey, Banijay Rights’ newly appointed EVP, Sales, Co-Productions and Acquisitions Rest of World. The series was originally produced by Fifty Fathoms for Channel 4.

    Matt Creasey comments: “We are thrilled Adult Material has been secured for HBO Max.  This outstanding drama is storytelling at its finest with exceptional performances all-round.   To secure this deal before the UK series has finished airing is a testament to the excellence of this programme.”

    Hayley Squires (Collateral, The Miniaturist, I, Daniel Blake), plays leading British pornstar Jolene Dollar in Lucy Kirkwood’s (The Smoke) new drama, Adult Material.  Juggling glamour on-camera and the reality of motherhood at home, Jolene is a poster girl for the industry. Through her eyes we see a world that isn’t defined by exploitation, but by opportunity for working class women. The hours are good, and the money is great, if you can lie back and think of England, and don’t mind the looks you get at the school gates.

    But the internet has midwifed a revolution in porn. Producers like Jolene’s old friend and colleague Carroll (Rupert Everett; Another Country, My Best Friend’s Wedding, The Happy Prince) are forced to push boundaries further than ever before, in search of the erotic, the bizarre, the funny, the disturbing, and above all: the new. In short, something you can get the punters to pay for when everyone wants it for free.

    Adult Material is a story that asks vital and serious questions about sex in the age of the internet, the blurring of fantasy and reality, and economic choices for women. But with the irresistible Jolene Dollar at its heart, it is above all a hugely entertaining, moving, outrageous, and human debate about one woman’s journey away from porn, and towards sex.  The series is directed by Dawn Shadforth and written by Lucy Kirkwood, who is also an executive producer along with Patrick Spence.  Producers are Patrick Spence and Sara Hamill.

    Adult Material, produced by Banijay’s Fifty Fathoms, launched on Channel 4 on Monday 5th October and will stream on HBO Max this December.

  7. Banijay Rights Appoints Matt Creasey EVP, Sales, Co-Productions & Acquisitions Rest of the World

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    Banijay Rights today confirms it has secured Matt Creasey as EVP, Sales, Co-Productions & Acquisitions, Rest of the World. The announcement follows Banijay’s recent acquisition of Endemol Shine Group and onward integration of the two global businesses.

     

    Creasey, who will report to Banijay Rights’ CEO, Cathy Payne, joins the leading sales division from Endemol Shine International, where, until now, he served as EVP, Sales and Acquisitions. Continuing to operate from Los Angeles, he will oversee all sales operations and the team for territories outside EMEA.

     

    Having joined Endemol Shine International back in 2006 as Director of Sales, Distribution, Creasey has spent his career to date selling and exploiting some of the world’s largest entertainment brands. With an invaluable client base, cross-platform sales experience, unrivalled knowledge of the catalogue and extensive commercial wisdom, he will work closely with Banijay Rights’ newly-appointed leadership team to set the strategy and grow the business across his assigned territories. Exploring opportunities across linear, SVOD and AVOD, he will also handle scripted co-productions in the US and rest of the world, alongside sales and acquisitions.

     

    Prior to his significant stint at Endemol Shine International, Creasey was Head of Sales at Celador International.

     

    Cathy Payne, CEO, Banijay Rights comments: “Matt has long been a highly-valued senior member of the Endemol Shine team and I could not be more pleased to have him joining me at Banijay Rights. He has an undisputed knowledge of the industry and is sure to thrive in his new position leading rest of the world across the united catalogues.”

     

    Matt Creasey adds: “Bringing together an unrivalled catalogue of global hits, a hugely talented team and an impressive sales network, Banijay Rights now stands as one of the world’s biggest distribution leaders, and what better place to call home. I’m looking forward to working with Cathy again and can’t wait to get started on driving maximum value for our treasure trove of IP in the US and beyond.”

     

    Banijay Rights’ extensive multi-genre catalogue of over 88,000 hours of content now comprises key brands including Survivor, Big Brother, Peaky Blinders, Temptation Island, MasterChef, Wallander, Mr Bean, The Wall, Fort Boyard and Deal or No Deal.