Mediawan and Plan B’s revolutionary partnership will gas international ambitions to unveil a compelling slate of various tasks throughout movie, tv, audio, and extra
PARIS and HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Dec. 9, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Mediawan, a number one impartial premium content material studio in Europe led by Pierre-Antoine Capton, and Plan B Leisure, an award-winning US based mostly manufacturing firm co-founded and led by Brad Pitt, together with co-presidents Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, announce at present that they’ve entered right into a definitive settlement for Mediawan to accumulate a big stake in Plan B.
By becoming a member of forces with Plan B, Mediawan expands past its core European markets into the US.
Plan B’s spectacular physique of movie work consists of, The Tree of Life, Eat Pray Love, World Struggle Z, 12 Years a Slave, Selma, The Massive Brief, Moonlight, Okja, and Minari. Latest movie tasks embrace, Andrew Dominik’s Blonde for Netflix, Maria Schrader’s She Mentioned for Common Photos, Sarah Polley’s Girls Speaking for MGM’s Orion Photos, Bong Joon-Ho’s Mickey 17 for Warner Brothers, David Michod’s forthcoming movie Wizards for A24, Cory Finley’s forthcoming Panorama With Invisible Hand for MGM, and RaMell Ross’s The Nickel Boys for MGM’s Orion Photos.
Plan B has additionally lately ramped up its tv work with a variety of tasks together with BAFTA and Peabody-winning The Underground Railroad, the Josh Brolin-starrer Outer Vary for Amazon, Clea DuVall and Tegan & Sara’s Excessive College for Amazon’s Freevee, Lego Masters for FOX, a second season of Feud in partnership with Ryan Murphy for FX, and the upcoming Three Physique Drawback, from David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and Alex Woo, for Netflix.
Mediawan is without doubt one of the premiere impartial European studios producing audiovisual content material and have movies. Its best-known titles embrace Worldwide Emmy award-wining Name My Agent! starring Camille Cottin for FranceTV and Netflix, Hugo Blick’s The English starring Emily Blunt for BBC and Amazon, Oscar and Golden Globes nominated The life Forward starring Sophia Lorren for Netflix, French blockbusters Novembre starring Jean Dujardin and the Stronghold for Studiocanal, That Soiled Black Bag starring Douglas Sales space and Dominic Cooper for AMC, in addition to a powerful line up with forthcoming Django for Canal+ and Sky, One Day for Netflix, The Three Musketeers for Pathé, and Miraculous the film with Zag.
The corporate was co-founded by Pierre-Antoine Capton, Xavier Niel, and Matthieu Pigasse, and is supported by its founders and its strategic companions, together with KKR and Atwater Capital, which is led by Vania Schlogel.
As leaders in impartial manufacturing in Europe and the US, this unprecedented partnership between Mediawan and Plan B will create useful synergies throughout expertise improvement and IP acquisition and proceed to construct on an already sturdy content material slate with a glance to an more and more international viewers. Plan B’s constant skill to work with top-tier expertise from internationally, coupled with the unique and current IP they’ve dropped at the massive and small display screen, will, together with Mediawan’s equally established relationships and now this strategic funding, domesticate a better variety of immensely proficient creators and premium tasks for a world viewership.
“This partnership will permit us to create a singular creative hyperlink between Europe and the US via which we and Plan B will develop premium impartial content material, offering a world platform on which the world’s biggest expertise can proceed to thrive. We wish to thank Brad, Dede, and Jeremy for his or her belief and recognition of the world-class content material emanating from our work in Europe,” stated Pierre-Antoine Capton, CEO and Co-Founding father of Mediawan.
Plan B companions Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner, added: “Now we have beloved working collectively for almost two-decades and are extremely enthusiastic about our future. As we enter the subsequent chapter in our evolution, we’re excited on the potentialities this partnership affords as we maximize our attain towards an more and more international viewers with a broad vary of movies and tv sequence throughout all platforms, genres, and mediums. For our present associate studios, together with these we look ahead to working with sooner or later, we pledge to proceed producing new content material for audiences in all places. With the revolutionary, creative and producer-centric platform Mediawan has constructed, we open a window to a good better variety of storytellers, each established masters and the rising voices which have all the time excited us.”
The acquisition by Mediawan is in keeping with the group’s growth technique past Europe into English-speaking markets to develop worldwide productions and produce collectively the world’s biggest abilities wherever they wish to work. A technique, supported by Mediawan’s shareholders: KKR, Atwater Capital, Bpifrance, MACSF, and Société Générale, that each one take part within the financing of this operation via a capital enhance.
The three companions in Plan B additionally enter the capital of Mediawan as a part of the acquisition.
The funding in Plan B might be made through a newly created entity, Mediawan US, which is able to coordinate Mediawan’s actions and future developments within the US. The Board of Mediawan US might be chaired by Vania Schlogel, with Pierre-Antoine Capton as CEO.
Mediawan US will maintain important stakes in Plan B in addition to in Blue Morning Photos, the manufacturing firm launched in 2022 by Mediawan with Oscar successful filmmakers Florian Zeller and Federica Sainte-Rose.
Vania Schlogel, Founder and Managing Companion at Atwater Capital, and future Chairwoman of the Mediawan US Board, stated: “Plan B has an distinctive monitor file of supporting and celebrating outstanding international storytellers. For numerous years now, I have been lucky sufficient to witness first-hand the imaginative and prescient of Pierre-Antoine Capton and the broader Mediawan group as they’ve constructed some of the artistic and dynamic impartial production-distribution teams on the planet. I can not consider a greater associate for Plan B because it enters this thrilling new part of progress.”
Philipp Freise, Companion and Co-head of European Non-public Fairness at KKR and Franziska Kayser, Managing Director at KKR, commented: “Below the management of Pierre-Antoine, Mediawan has established itself on the heart of high quality content material manufacturing in Europe. Constructing main companies on this sector has lengthy been a imaginative and prescient for KKR, with the take non-public of Mediawan in addition to the founding of LEONINE Studios. We’re delighted to see Mediawan and Plan B be part of forces to proceed our mission of making the main artist-centric international impartial content material platform, the primary of its sort on such a world scale. We welcome Brad, Jeremy, and Dede to the shareholdership and look ahead to collaborating with them to proceed this distinctive success story.”
Moelis & Firm served as lead monetary advisor, Willkie Farr & Gallagher served as authorized advisor, and CAA served as advisors to Plan B. Brillstein Leisure served as advisor to Brad Pitt. Centerview Companions acted as monetary advisors and Latham & Watkins acted as authorized advisor to Mediawan. BNP Paribas served as advisor to the cofounders of Mediawan. Monetary phrases of the deal weren’t disclosed.
About Mediawan
Created in late 2015 by Pierre-Antoine Capton, Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse, Mediawan is without doubt one of the foremost impartial European studios producing audiovisual content material. The Group brings collectively best-in-class abilities in audiovisual creation by working on all the worth chain: manufacturing of drama, unscripted, documentary, cinema and animated unique content material, because of over 60 manufacturing labels in France, Germany (partnership with LEONINE Studios since 2020), England, Italy, Spain, the United-States, the Netherlands, Finland and Senegal (Mediawan Studios), distribution of audiovisual content material (Mediawan Rights, LS Distribution and Telmondis Distribution) and publishing of channels and digital companies (Mediawan Thematics) in addition to the event and manufacturing of digital content material (Mediawan Digital). Contacts: Juleanna Glover, [email protected], +1 202 288 2076; Quitterie Lemasson, [email protected], +33785731182;
About Plan B Leisure
Headed by Brad Pitt and co-presidents Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Plan B Leisure is a long-standing movie and tv manufacturing firm. Their movie work consists of: The Tree of Life, Eat Pray Love, World Struggle Z, 12 Years a Slave, Selma, The Massive Brief, Moonlight, Stunning Boy, If Beale Road May Speak, Vice, Advert Astra, The King, The Final Black Man in San Francisco, Irresistible, Kajillionaire, Minari, a reimagination of Father of the Bride, and Blonde. Alongside their filmography, their acclaimed tv work consists of: The Underground Railroad, Outer Vary, Excessive College, Paper Ladies, The Third Day, Feud: Bette and Joan, The Regular Coronary heart, Sweetbitter, and The OA. Their acclaimed tv work consists of the Peabody Award successful and Emmy-nominated The Underground Railroad, Outer Vary, Excessive College, Paper Ladies, BAFTA-nominated The Third Day, Emmy-nominated Feud: Bette and Joan, Emmy-winning The Regular Coronary heart, Sweetbitter, and The OA. The corporate has a first-look function movie manufacturing cope with the Warner Bros. Photos Group, and a second-look options deal at MGM. Their general first-look deal for tv is with Amazon Prime Video. Contact: Anna Yang, [email protected]
About Atwater Capital
Targeted solely on the Media and Leisure sectors, Atwater was based with the imaginative and prescient of uniting the precious artistic points of evaluating investments and rising corporations with deep operational and monetary experience underneath one roof and one group. Going towards the established order of historically segregating these important actions, Atwater seeks to extract the synergies of making use of quantitative rigor to artistic technique on behalf of our portfolio corporations and stakeholders.
Atwater brings a monitor file of excellence in operational and monetary technique so as to ship tangible outcomes. Whether or not via optimizing operational processes, unlocking enterprise improvement alternatives, delivering an intensive community of influencers to create genuine messaging, or digitizing away from ineffective and capital-intensive conventional branding actions — Atwater brings nimble and disruptive methods to our investments. Contact: Lindsey Nevarez, [email protected]
About KKR
KKR is a number one international funding agency that provides different asset administration in addition to capital markets and insurance coverage options. KKR goals to generate engaging funding returns by following a affected person and disciplined funding method, using world-class individuals, and supporting progress in its portfolio corporations and communities. KKR sponsors funding funds that spend money on non-public fairness, credit score and actual property and has strategic companions that handle hedge funds. KKR’s insurance coverage subsidiaries supply retirement, life and reinsurance merchandise underneath the administration of International Atlantic Monetary Group. References to KKR’s investments could embrace the actions of its sponsored funds and insurance coverage subsidiaries. For extra details about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please go to KKR’s web site at www.kkr.com and on Twitter @KKR_Co. Contact: Annabel Arthur, [email protected], +44 7554 919 491
SOURCE Mediawan
