Mediawan : étend sa presence en Espagne et crée un ambitieux hub de production espagnol (ENG)

Mediawan expands its presence in Spain

and creates an ambitious Spanish production hub

Paris/Madrid, November 10, 2020 - Mediawan, one of the main independent European studios producing premium content, announces today that it is creating an ambitious production hub in Spain, "Mediawan Studios Spain", composed of Grupo Boomerang, the Spanish subsidiary of Lagardère Studios whose acquisition was finalized on October 30th, Good Mood, an independent production company acquired in June, and Weekend Studio, a promising production company in which it has taken a minority share. Mediawan Studios España will be led by Monica Galer, currently a member of Mediawan's Supervisory Board since November 2019.

In the last few years, Spain has been one of the most dynamic European markets for the production industry, and a priority for Mediawan. With over 460 million native Spanish speakers in the world, there has been a growing demand for premium content in Spanish globally. The objective for the Group in creating this hub in Spain is:

• to gather top talents in audiovisual content in Europe with a strong know-how in all formats (series, cinema, unscripted), a proven track-record in producing premium content, and a global ambition;
• to reinforce synergies between the Group's production companies across Europe in terms of co- production and co-distribution, in the same way as the Group has initiated in recent months with Palomar for the Italian market;
• to build on the long-standing relationships of these production companies with local broadcasters (traditional local TV channels and global platforms).

"The creativity and dynamism of the Spanish production market is impressive, as well as the quality and know-how of its producers. This hub is opening key opportunities for the Group not only in the booming Spanish market but in all Spanish-speaking regions. We are eager to start working with Grupo Boomerang and Weekend Studio and welcome them into the Group, as we have with Good Mood in the last few months," declared Pierre-AntoineCapton, Chairman of the Management Board of Mediawan.

"Becoming part of Mediawan is great news for our teams at Boomerang TV and Veranda. Joining one of the most important audiovisual groups in Europe will help us consolidate our position as one of the biggest television production companies in Spain and opens a wide range of opportunities. Creative talent is one of our greatest assets and we share with our partners the passion for what we do. This will enable us work with a global mindset and generate synergies", said Pedro Ricote, founder and Senior Manager of Boomerang TV Group.

"It is an honor for Weekend studio to become part of a great audiovisual group like Mediawan. Our production ambition and international vocation make Mediawan the perfect partner for our growth as a company," said Tomás Cimadevilla, founder and CEO of Weekend Studio.

"Mediawan is a strategic and ideal partner who has respected our vision and philosophy from the very beginning, demonstrating an enormous mutual trust in this alliance," said Daniel Écija, founder of Good Mood Productions.

Boomerang TV Group is one of the most important production companies in Spain, acquired by Mediawan in October 2020. Under the leadership of Pedro Ricote and Juan José Díaz, it has been producing entertainment (drama and unscripted) for Spain's most important networks for over 20 years and has an extensive catalogue of over 100 productions. Boomerang TV Fiction has produced series, which have been successful on featured TV channels and are present on the main platforms, with titles such as "The time in between" (exported in 75 territories), "Ines of my soul", "Plastic sea", "Mum detective" (adapted in several countries including U.S by NBC network) or "Physics or Chemistry", among many others. Moreover, it has positioned itself as the leading creator of daily dramas. Boomerang TV Entertainment has produced numerous programs of all genres and is a benchmark in the adaptation of large international formats such as "The Voice", "The Voice Kids", "Top Chef", "Divided" or "Peking Express". The recently signed agreement with ITV Studios grants the production rights of all its new entertainment formats released in Spain. For its part, Veranda, a Barcelona-based production company, is responsible for fictions of great international scope such as "Merlí" or its spin off "Merlí Sapere Aude".

Weekend Studio is an audiovisual production company created in 2017 by producer Tomás Cimadevilla (The other side of the bed, Friend zone, Football days), Juan Dominguez (digital entrepreneur) and Jorge Iglesias (ex- Canal+ and Universal studio), focused on the creation, development and production of television series and films with a global ambition. After 25 years in the audiovisual business, its managers have participated in more than 30 tv series, feature films and documentaries. Weekend Studio released its first series "Hache" (a 8x50' thrilling drug-crime story set in the early '60s in Barcelona) on Netflix globally in late 2019 and the second season should be released in the next few months.

Good Mood is an audiovisual production company created in 2017 by Daniel Écija and acquired by Mediawan in June 2020. Creator, showrunner and producer with more than 30 series and eight films, Daniel Écija is the founder and former CEO of Globomedia, and one of the creators of "Un Paso Adelante" (60 episodes exported in 60 countries). Good Mood developed successful series like "El Accidente" (The Accident), "Estoy Vivo" (I'm Alive) and more recently "La Valla" (The Barrier - a 13x50' series set in post-apocalyptic Spain), which is currently broadcast on Antena 3 and Netflix in many countries. Good Mood is an incubator of new audiovisual talent that creates content for all national and international networks and platforms.

Monica Galer, key figure among the media, began her carrier organising the Rotterdam Film Festival, then specialised in movies' production and distribution. In 1989, she turned to TV by founding John De Mol Productions' international department before managing Endemol International's sales division. She joined All American Fremantle in London then moved to Paris as Director of international sales at Télé Images group. In 2000, she became COO of FremantleMedia's Dutch subsidiary, then COO of FremantleMedia Northern and Southern Europe (regrouping 6 countries of which Italy and Spain), and she was appointed as CEO of FremantleMedia France in 2007.

About Mediawan - mediawan.com

Created in late 2015 by Pierre-Antoine Capton, Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse, Mediawan soon became one of the main independent European studios producing premium content. Mediawan brings together best-in-class talents in audiovisual creation by operating on the entire value chain: production of drama, documentary and animated original content (Mediawan Originals and Mediawan Animation), distribution of audiovisual content (Mediawan Rights), and publishing of channels and digital services (Mediawan Thematics). Mediawan currently gathers over 50 production labels.

Contacts

Victoire GRUX - [phone] - [e-mail]

Timothée NICOLAS - [phone] [e-mail]