Banijay Children & Household Buys Kindle Leisure & Movimenti Manufacturing – Deadline

Banijay Kids & Family has purchased UK drama specialist Kindle Entertainment and Italian animation agency Movimenti Production. The offers convey the full variety of manufacturing inside Banijay’s youth-focused arm throughout France, the UK and Italy to 6, sitting alongside distribution, advertising and marketing and licencing arm, Zodiak Children & Household Distribution.

Based mostly in London, the female-led Kindle Leisure is behind premium YA and household dramas akin to Sky restricted sequence Little Darlings and Netflix teen thriller The A Listing. It has additionally simply launched trilogy of Ivy + Bean household movies on the streamer, starring the likes of Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Jane Lynch. Lionsgate had owned a minority stake within the enterprise since late 2015.

Established in 2004 with bases in Milan, Florence and Rome, Movimenti is behind Rai’s Topo Gigio and Netflix’s Tear Alongside the Dotted Line. It additionally co-created ForFun Media – The Animation Community, together with 2D studio DogHead Animation and 3D manufacturing studio MoBo), alongside Studio Bozzetto and in 2019 teamed with the publishing community Auzou to create Straightforward Peasy Leisure, an indie animator based mostly in Paris.

The offers signify main strikes within the Worldwide youngsters area, the place M&A has been scarce over latest years, and one in every of Banijay Children & Household’s greatest performs since Moonscoop Group co-founder Benoît Di Sabatino took over the division in 2018, when it was referred to as Zodiak Children.

Giorgio Scorza and Davide Rosio, CEOs of Movimenti Manufacturing stated in an announcement: “We’re thrilled to affix a household, with whom we share core values such because the concentrate on storymaking and the fixed seek for one of the best ways to do it. To any extent further, we’ll work in synergy with our new companions inside Banijay Children & Household to offer much more power to our manufacturing of unique, modern and high-quality content material, able to conquering the worldwide market. Native first stays key, and we’ll proceed to guess on the extraordinary professionals we work with now, and hope to sooner or later, with a view to convey the excellence of Italian expertise in animation to an more and more international degree.”

Melanie Stokes, MD, Kindle Leisure stated: “We’re so thrilled to be becoming a member of Benoit and his group at Banijay. Kindle Leisure is keen about creating Premium YA and 4-Quad Drama for a world viewers. It’s a vastly thrilling time to be on this area, and we will’t consider a greater companion to assist us understand our ambitions to create ever higher, larger hit reveals.” 

Stokes and Anne Brogan have run London-based Kindle since 2007 and have gained a number of Worldwide Children Emmys and BAFTA Youngsters’s Awards. The corporate sale to Banijay marks the second British indie to promote to a French firm this week, with Paris drama powerhouse yesterday confirming the acquisition of Vertigo Movies.

Di Sabatino, CEO, Banijay Children & Household says: “Kindle Leisure and Movimenti Manufacturing shall be complimentary additions to the household, each bringing their very own distinctive experience, with constant observe information in delivering premium reveals. This can be a pivotal second for Banijay Children & Household, as we proceed to develop our footprint and stay a key participant on this aggressive market. I sit up for working with such passionate and artistic producers as Melanie, Anne, Giorgio, Davide and their extremely gifted groups, as we embark on the subsequent section of our journey. From pre-schoolers to the entire family, we’re proud to supply a variety of stay and animated premium reveals to broadcasters all all over the world.”