SURVEY
PRODUCTION 100 SUPER INDIES
THE I SUPERNDIES
round of consolidation within the indie sector. Not at all. If anything, the past twelve months have seen an acceleration in the number of acquisitions and deals among production companies.
O
FAMILIAR FACES Some of the buyers are familiar. Last July, Sony Pictures Television took a majority stake in Sex Education producer Eleven, while this summer sister firm Sony Music bought long-established production outfit Somethin’ Else. Meanwhile, Sky acquired
the remaining 30% of Bake Off producer Love Productions that it did not already own. Superindie group All3Media added to its stable with the
ne might think the pandemic had prompted a pause in the ongoing
IDEAL-MAKING HAS PICKED UP
N THE INDIE SECTOR THIS YEAR, AND PRODUCERS WITH STRONG LINKS INTO STRAMERS ARE IN PARTICULAR DEMAND. TIM DAMS REPORTS
purchase of natural history indie Silverback, the producer of Our Planet, and NENT Studios’ UK distribution business, formerly known as DRG. ITV Studios upped its stake
in Danish production company Apple Tree Productions from 25% to 51%. Elsewhere, Avalon – this year’s
top indie in the Production 100 – acquired The Agency, which represents writers and directors including Gentleman Jack creator Sally Wainwright and A Very English Scandal writer Russell T Davies.
NEW BUYERS There were also a number of new buyers. Emerging Paris- based production group Asacha Media Group – founded by three former Endemol Shine and Zodiak
executives – took majority stakes in Death in Paradise indie Red Planet Pictures as well as Combat Dealers producer and distributor Wag Entertainment. Franco-German outfit
Mediawan & Leonine Studios, meanwhile, acquired a majority stake in Drama Republic, the indie behind Pure, Doctor Foster and The Honourable Woman. Ringside Media, backed by
France’s Newen, also announced investments in Further South Productions, Fictionhouse and Slate Entertainment. Documentary and animation
producer Passion Pictures took control of Once Upon a Time in Iraq indie Keo Films after pressure on its finances as a result of Covid-19 caused it to seek investment. And Endeavour, the parent
company of leading sports producer IMG, floated on the New York Stock Exchange. The spate of deal-making
RDF’s Eat Well For Less Two Brothers’ Baptiste Autumn 2021 P39
televisual.com
comes after a relatively quiet few years in the UK TV production M&A space. Having endured a frenzied decade and a half of acquisitions in the wake of the 2003 Communications Act, the trend among big production groups seemed to be to seed start up indies rather than spend millions (or in some cases billions)
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