Studiocanal buys stake in UK Red Production Company
Pascale Paoli-Lebailly | 05-12-2013
French film producer and distributor Studiocanal, an affiliate of the Canal+ Group, has taken a majority stake in the UK's indie prodco Red Production Company.
Following its previous acquisition of German company Tandem Communications, Studiocanal has moved to the UK where it wants to develop its activities and expand within TV production.
The deal will allow Red Production Company to develop more UK productions as well as initiate international dramas. The company was founded by Nicola Shindler and, along with MD Andrew Critchley, he will continue at the helm.
Since 1998, Red Production Company has produced some of the UK's most popular drama series such as Queer as Folk for C4, Scott & Bailey for ITV and more recently Last Tango in Halifax, the second series of which returned to the BBC in November.
"Partnering with Red is a step forward in positioning Studiocanal as a European leader in content production. Thanks to Red and Tandem, Studiocanal will be able to provide broadcasters and platforms with high quality international TV programmes," studio CEO Olivier Courson commented.