Anton joins France’s Federation

Anton recently backed BBC and AMC drama McMafia

France’s Federation Entertainment has agreed a deal with European film and TV outfit Anton to boost its production and distribution activities.

Anton, which struck a partnership to fund dramas with BBC Studios in 2017, will co-fund Federation’s distribution acquisitions in drama and animation.

On the production side, Anton will have the option of co-financing series and also gains an option to distribute in Asia and Africa, where it recently led sales for animated movie Paddington 2.

Anton, which has co-financed more than 200 films, was founded by Sebastien Raybaud in 2011 and struck a US$160m funding deal with StudioCanal in 2015 on titles including Paddington 2, Shaun the Sheep and Non-Stop.

More recently, the company was behind BBC and AMC drama McMafia, while it is also working on the forthcoming adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables for the UK pubcaster.

Last year BBC Studios (fka BBC Worldwide) cut all ties with US producer The Weinstein Company on the show, as revealed by C21, after a raft of sexual misconduct allegations emerged against Harvey Weinstein.

Federation, based in Paris and LA, was launched in 2013 by president Pascal Breton and has worked on shows such as Marseille for Netflix and Scandi drama Bordertown, produced with Fisher King.