'Back To Black'

Source: Dean Rogers / Focus Features

‘Back To Black’

HQ: Paris

Launched: 1991

Main shareholder: Canal+ Group

Key staff: CEO Anna Marsh

Turnover: $274m (€253m), 2022

Labels: Studiocanal production and distribution subsidiaries in France, the UK, Germany, Poland, Benelux, Australia and New Zealand. Stakes in 14 production companies: 2E Bureau, Studiocanal Original (France); Birdie Pictures, Red Production Company, Urban Myth Films, Strong Film and TV, Sunny March (UK); Bambu Productions (Spain); Lailaps Films, Studiocanal Series (Germany); Opus TV (Poland); Sam Productions (Denmark); Dingie (Netherlands); The Picture Company (US)

Recent deals: Integration of Poland’s Kino Swiat (2023), Dutch FilmWorks (2022); acquisition of a stake in US film producer The Picture Company; founded UK labels Birdie Pictures, Strong Film & TV (2023)

Latest productions: Feature films Back To Black, We Live In Time, Cold Storage, Paddington In Peru (Studiocanal). TV series Paris Has Fallen, Families Like Ours (Studiocanal), Anansi Boys (Red Production)

The production and distribution division of Vivendi-owned pay-TV giant Canal+, Studiocanal finances and distributes around 80 feature films and 20 series a year. As well as Studio­canal subsidiaries in Europe and Australia/New Zealand, the company has a network of European production labels including the UK’s Red Production and Spain’s Bambu Productions.

In 2023 it extended this production footprint to the US with a stake in genre and action producer The Picture Company. Elsewhere, Studiocanal’s catalogue has 8,000 titles, including classics Serpico, Breathless and The Ladykillers, making it the largest library in Europe.

The company says 2023 was its biggest production year ever, citing films such as John Crowley’s upcoming We Live In Time, Sam Taylor-­Johnson’s Amy Winehouse biopic Back To Black and Dougal Wilson’s anticipated Paddington In Peru. Its upcoming television slate includes English-­language action thriller Paris Has Fallen starring Gerard Butler and Thomas Vinterberg’s Scandinavian drama Families Like Ours.

Studiocanal’s film distribution teams released movies in 2023 such as Alibi.com 2 in France, Evil Dead Rise in the UK, Miraculous in Germany and Green Border in Poland. A key focus for 2024 is supporting the global release of Paddington In Peru.

At Mipcom in 2023, Canal+ chairman and CEO Maxime Saada stressed his ambition for the growth of Studiocanal. He wants it to become one of the main providers of content for Canal+ channels in France and internationally.

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