Major European production and distribution groups: Fremantle

Fremantle traces its roots back to 1917, the year that legendary German studio UFA — behind classics such as Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and Marlene Dietrich-starrer The Blue Angel — was founded. FremantleMedia was born in 2001 following the merger of European broadcasting and production group CLT-UFA with the UK’s Pearson TV, the owner of Australia’s Grundy, the UK’s Thames Television and Baywatch and The Price Is Right outfit All American TV. The merger led to the creation of parent company RTL Group — its content business, mostly stemming from Pearson TV in London, was renamed Fremantle­Media.

For years, the company was best known as a producer of entertainment shows such as The X Factor, … Got Talent, House Of Kardashian and The Price Is Right and soaps including Neighbours.

Fremantle began a concerted push into high-end scripted a decade ago, acquiring Denmark’s Miso Film, producer of Wallander, and then Italy’s Wildside (The Young Pope). A slew of M&A deals have followed, bringing top drama and film companies into the Fremantle fold such as Shtisel producer Abot Hameiri in Israel and Normal People indie Element Pictures. It also has first-look deals with the likes of Michael Winterbottom’s Revolution Films.

Now simply called Fremantle, the company has become a serious player in arthouse cinema. Recent hits include Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things and Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla, while its upcoming slate features Edward Berger’s Conclave and Paolo Sorrentino’s Parthenope. RTL has targeted Fremantle with achieving full-year revenue of $3.3bn (€3bn) by 2025. It moved a step closer to this in February with the planned acquisition of European production group Asacha Media Group, whose labels include Death In Paradise producer Red Planet.

• In focus: the major European production and distribution groups