Gaumont goes beyond Hemlock Grove

Christophe Riandee, vice CEO of Gaumont and vice chairman of Gaumont International Television, tells Talking Shop about the company’s fast-developing US TV operation, which has just seen Hannibal debut on NBC and is looking ahead to Hemlock Grove, its Eli Roth-directed horror series for Netflix, due out on April 19.

While Netflix’s release of House of Cards earlier this year generated lots of debate about the pros and cons of giving viewers all episodes at once, Riandee says there is no debate.

“I don’t think there are pros or cons of binge-viewing. It’s a fact. Consumers want to watch a show and they are eager to watch it very quickly,” he says. “We as producers need to respond to that. Netflix’s way of launching, promoting and airing their shows is a very interesting one because there’s obviously millions of people who want to watch show this way.”

Riandee also talks about the development of a new series based Barbarella, the character created by Jean-Claude Forest and immortalized by Jane Fonda in the 1968 movie, and about the recent rebrand of Gaumont Animation.