France’s Mediawan Group and private equity firm Entourage Ventures have struck a co-development agreement underpinned by a €100M ($107M) fund.
The pair will work together over a four- to six-year period to finance series “with strong international potential.” Underpinning the operation will be €100M Entourage Fund.
Mediawan is coming off the back of its attention-grabbing deal for Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, while Entourage Ventures is a film and TV financier that has invested more than €50M ($54M) on 40 French films. It first pushed into TV series in 2020 through an agreement with producer Media Muskateers.
Entourage will work with Mediawan Rights, the sale arm of Mediawan, to co-developm, co-produce and co-distribute series.
Investments and revenue will be shared 50/50, with Mediawan handling series distribution and Entourage providing investment expertize and ecosystem of professional investors such as private equity firm 123 Investment Managers, film and audiovosual industry social protection group Audiens and the Hottinguer Bank.
The agreement covers drama, animation and doc series and includes a number of existing Mediawan Rights projects such as Zorro and Civilizations, the adaptation of Laurent Binet’s bestselling novel and some from Mediawan Kids and Family Distribution.
“We are giving ourselves the tools to continue to invest massively in the most ambitious productions but also to support a greater number of projects,” said Mediawan Pictures CEO Elisabeth d’Arvieu and Valérie Vleeschhouwer, CEO of Mediawan Rights, in a statement.
“We are delighted with this association which offers new opportunities for creative talents, for an European creation with an open vision, which travels far and speaks to an international audience.”
Matthias Nicodeme, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Entourage Ventures, added: “The pool of strong intellectual property in European series, the fundamentals of this asset and the context of new financing requirements for streaming platforms make this partnership with Mediawan a very attractive opportunity.”
