STUDIOCANAL ACQUIRES STAKE IN THE PICTURE COMPANY

STUDIOCANAL is expanding its long-term relationship with prolific production outfit The Picture Company run by producing partners Andrew Rona & Alex Heineman in a move to scale up the company.

STUDIOCANAL, Europe’s leading production and distribution studio, has purchased a minority stake in the company and has closed a new 5-year overall deal with the producers. The goal of the expanded deal is to scale up the company, which has been a prolific supplier of globally successful feature films for STUDIOCANAL since the two companies joined forces in 2015.

The producers have been longtime architects for STUDIOCANAL in building European set films that have global appeal. The company focuses on cultivating projects with European filmmakers and talent to make international hit films that support the STUDIOCANAL mandate of making globally appealing commercial content. The company has been tasked with scaling up its production line to service STUDIOCANAL's global distribution network, backed by CANAL+ Group, one of the major players in the creation and distribution of content worldwide, with 25,5 million subscribers, a presence in more than 50 countries and 7 600 employees on every continent.

Anna Marsh, Sylvie Arnould-Martin, Jeremy Gabbay, Ron Halpern and Shana Eddy Grouf worked on the deal for STUDIOCANAL. Maxime Saada is Chairman of STUDIOCANAL.

STUDIOCANAL CEO Anna Marsh comments “I am incredibly proud to solidify closer ties with Andrew and Alex who are talented, loyal and visionary producers who have delivered for us time and time again. They work tirelessly to strive for excellence in their filmmaking with a shared ambition with STUDIOCANAL to tell broad commercial stories with exceptional talent for global audiences. I am excited to work with The Picture Company to expand their slate beyond film and into TV series with many exciting projects already in development in this space. The film and TV slate is exactly what it should be; diverse and exciting and it inspires us all to continue producing quality European content with worldwide appeal and together with the CANAL+ Group we are destined for great things. It’s a pleasure to welcome Andrew and Alex to the team and to make this announcement here in Cannes together.”

THE PICTURE COMPANY partners Andrew Rona and Alex Heineman expand “We are thrilled to continue our incredible partnership with STUDIOCANAL and now truly feel like part of the family. We look forward to continuing our successful relationship over many years to come.”

Founded in 2015 by veteran producers and executives Alex Heineman & Andrew Rona, The Picture Company has become an essential brand for STUDIOCANAL and proved a fruitful partnership and supplier of content to buyers around the world. Since the company’s inception they have made numerous films together - all being international hits for both companies. They also have over 20 projects in active development across a diverse slate of film and TV projects. Among the films made include Liam Neeson’s NON-STOP, which to date is the company’s highest grossing film of all time only second to the Paddington Bear franchise. The two companies also made the hit Liam Neeson film THE COMMUTER, which was distributed by Lionsgate grossing over 100M on a midrange budget - as well as the Netflix breakout action thriller GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE which now has a sequel and TV series in development. The two companies have three films now in post production: The Amazon action/thriller ROLE PLAY starring Kaley Cuoco and David Oyelowo, Liam Neeson starrer RETRIBUTION which landed a major distribution deal at Lionsgate and will be released this summer theatrically as well as horror-thriller BAGHEAD which stars Freya Allan who just led the relaunch of Planet of the Apes for 20th Century Studios. That film is readying a sale to buyers imminently.

Next on the slate and with sales launching at Cannes is the recently announced (exclusively by DEADLINE) - James McAvoy starrer CONTROL - another high-concept action thriller, which will be directed by RED and FLIGHTPLAN director Robert Schwentke. CONTROL will be the company’s 5th film shot in Berlin by the producers in association with Studio Bablesberg. The movie is based off the acclaimed podcast Shipworm created by Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie.

Also on the development slate is the high-concept action/comedy HONEY TRAPPED, written by April Wolfe, which has a planned 2024 start date. That film is said to be a strong two hander with franchise potential. Other films on the docket include the grounded sci-fi thriller EUROSTAR written by Source Code’s Ben Ripley as well as THE PARIS TRAP - another high-concept European thriller which The Picture Company has created a clear niche in the market place for. Genre thrillers also are a focus with the elevated true story HELLISH NELL in the works about the famous medium Helen Duncan who was the last woman to be tried for Witchcraft in 1944 with a script from Blacklist alum Chris Basler.

Another focus of the new deal is developing IP titles from the vast STUDIOCANAL library. Already in the works is an adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic ENDLESS NIGHT, a retelling of cult horror film DON’T LOOK NOW as well as a remake of the French paranoid thriller BLACK BOX and a remake of the Curtis Hanson thriller BEDROOM WINDOW. The producers are also guiding the relaunch of John Carpenter’s ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK.

TV is also a big priority of the new deal. The Picture Company has several series in the works with STUDIOCANAL including an adaptation of the celebrated documentary THE LOST LEONARDO which they are producing in conjunction with Ent. 360 - Gillian Weeks will showrun. Also an adaptation of hit book THE LIGHTHOUSE WITCHES by author C.J. Cooke, which is being showrun and created by Vera Miao.

This new deal also supports The Picture Company in building its slate around town as STUDIOCANAL now has an ownership stake. Outside of the STUDIOCANAL slate, The Picture Company are among the production companies of the upcoming Bob Dylan biopic A COMPLETE UNKNOWN from Searchlight Pictures, which shoots this summer with Timothee Chalamet set to play Bob Dylan and James Mangold directing. Also in the works is a remake of the award winning German film SYSTEM CRASHER which has Channing Tatum set to star at Amazon/MGM. Also at Amazon is an adaptation of the award winning cult comic book MERCY SPARX which 2 time Blacklist alum Laura Kossan is adapting.

Since the founding of the company the producers have also produced Amblin’s COME PLAY, Makeready’s A MILLION LITTLE PIECES and Studio 8’s ALPHA.

About STUDIOCANAL (a CANAL+ Company)

STUDIOCANAL, a 100% affiliate of CANAL+ Group held by Vivendi, is Europe’s leader in production, distribution and international sales of feature films and series, operating in all nine major European markets - France, United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Spain, Denmark and Benelux - as well as in Australia and New Zealand. It finances and produces around 30 films per year, distributes around 80 films per year. It owns the largest library in Europe and one of the most prestigious libraries in the world, boasting more than 8 000 titles from 60 countries, spanning 100 years of film history. 20 million euros has been invested into the restoration of 750 classic films over the past 5 years. In addition, STUDIOCANAL also produces almost 20 series each year and operates at an international level by globally distributing its scripted productions and CANAL+ Originals (2,000 hours of current and library content in distribution). All productions take place directly through STUDIOCANAL entities or with its award-winning network of European production companies (STUDIOCANAL Series, LAILAPS FILMS, RED PRODUCTION COMPANY, URBAN MYTH FILMS, BAMBÚ PRODUCCIONES, STUDIOCANAL ORIGINAL, 2e BUREAU, SUNNYMARCH TV, SAM Productions, DINGIE/DUTCH FILMWORKS, KINO SWIAT, BIRDIE PICTURES, STRONG FILM & TELEVISION).