Fremantle Buys Asacha Media Group In Major European M&A Deal

Alex Ritman Astral Projection, the production company set up by Oscar winner Rachel Weisz and British executive producer Polly Stokes (“American Honey,” “Wild Rose”) has signed a new first-look and development deal with Fremantle. The three-year deal will see Fremantle become the primary home for all TV and film projects for Astral Projection, which co-produced “Dead Ringers,” Amazon’s six-part psychological thriller in which Weisz played both lead roles in a gender-swapped reimagining of the 1988 David Cronenberg film. Stokes, a former creative executive at Film4, and Weisz have a long-standing relationship and are building a slate of projects with Rebecca Servadio as Astral’s literary consultant.

Rachel Weisz and Polly Stokes are taking their slate to Fremantle.

EXCLUSIVE: India-based animation producer Toonz Media House and New York’s Driver Studios have teamed for 3D-animated kids series The Blahs.

EXCLUSIVE: After a five-year run at the company and the recent acquisition of Oscar nominee Io Capitano, Robert Aaronson has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Cohen Media Group (CMG).

Naman Ramachandran Giants of U.K. TV and streaming have combined for the fourth iteration of The TV Collective’s groundbreaking Breakthrough Leaders program. The program aims to identify and empower 50 exceptional individuals from Black, Asian and global majority (a collective term for people of Indigenous, African, Asian, Latin American descent, who constitute some 85% of the global population) backgrounds who are poised to become the future leaders of the U.K.

Jonathan Majors has made his first public appearance at an industry event after being found guilty of reckless assault and harassment. The Lovecraft Country alum attended the 7th Annual AAFCA Special Achievement Awards luncheon with Meagan Good.

Alex Ritman Well-established Italian producers Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Mieli — who left their Fremantle-owned banners, Wildside and The Apartment, respectively, earlier this year — are returning to the growing TV and film powerhouse with their new scripted outfit. The duo — who co-founded “The Young Pope” and “My Brilliant Friend” production house Wildside in 2009 before Mieli exited to set up The Apartment, which was behind the recent hit “Priscilla” — are yet to reveal details of their new company.

Sonia Rovai and Annamaria Morelli have been named as the new bosses of Wildside and The Apartment, respectively.

Following their departures as CEOs of Fremantle‘s Wildside and The Apartment, Mario Gianani and Lorenzo Mieli have struck a co-production deal with their old employer Fremantle on several projects as they unveil their new company.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor On Wednesday, Fremantle revealed that it had secured worldwide distribution rights, outside of German-speaking territories, to the premium fantasy drama “Hagen” — a working title — from Constantin Film. Variety spoke to Jan Ehlert, one of the producers on the show, and Jens Richter, CEO commercial and international at Fremantle, about why they backed the ambitious production, which is budgeted at around Euros 45 million ($48.8 million) and will be produced as a six-part series and a feature film for theatrical release.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Fremantle revealed Wednesday that it has secured worldwide distribution rights, outside of German-speaking territories, to the premium fantasy drama “Hagen” — a working title — from Constantin Film. The deal includes rights to a six-part series and a feature film for theatrical release. RTL Group holds German streaming and free TV rights.

Here’s a first look at Hagen (working title), the German-Czech fantasy drama epic, which now counts Fremantle as its worldwide distributor.

EXCLUSIVE: Grady Craig has been promoted to President of Buffalo 8 and Senior Vice President of Business Development at BondIt Media Capital, Deadline has learned.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Universal Music Group has announced a majority investment in the Nigeria-based Afrobeats powerhouse label Mavin Global (Mavin). The label, based in Lagos, is home to such hits as Rema’s “Calm Down” — the Selena Gomez-featuring remix of which was No. 12 on Variety’s 2023 Hitmakers chart and is the most-viewed video on YouTube by an African artists — and other artists including Ayra Starr, Ladipoe, Johnny Drille and more.

I see London. I see France. And if major league baseball players are to be believed, their new uniforms show off their underpants.

Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here steering you away from Berlin and towards London for the Screenings. Please do read on, and sign up here.

Welcome to Deadline’s London TV Screenings list, our definitive look at next week’s buzzy event taking Soho by storm. If you’re wondering who’s exhibiting, what’s on offer and want to dive deeper into the distribs’ strategy, we’ve done the hard work for you, presenting profiles from nearly 30 exhibiting sales houses. Below, check out profiles for all the London TV Screenings founders, along with the outfits based in the UK. Read on, and find all our London TV Screenings content throughout the week here.

K.J. Yossman Fremantle has inked a deal to acquire Asacha Media Group from Oaktree Capital Management L.P. Paris-headquartered Asacha houses eight labels in the U.K., France and Italy including Stand By Me, Arrow Media and Kabo Family.

EXCLUSIVE: The EFM market has lift off! In the first major worldwide pact done on the ground here in Berlin, Sony has tied up a deal in the $50M range for Margot Robbie (Barbie) and Colin Farrell (The Batman) package A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, which is one of the market’s hottest scripts.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Cohen Media Group, the U.S. distribution company behind Matteo Garrone’s Oscar-nominated “Io Capitano,” has acquired North American rights to “The President’s Wife,” a biting movie starring Catherine Deneuve as the former first lady Bernadette Chirac. The deal closed during the European Film Market currently taking place and running alongside the Berlin Film Festival.