Federation takes majority stake in Fabula

MIPCOM: French producer and distributor Federation Entertainment has taken a controlling stake in the Rome-based production company behind one of Netflix’s first original Italian dramas.

Pascal Breton

Pascal Breton’s Federation has bought 51% of Nichola and Marco de Angelis’ Fabula Pictures, it was announced today here in Cannes.

Fabula was founded five years ago by the two filmmakers and was recently given the green light by Netflix to make Baby, the streamer’s second Italian original, which will debut on the global streaming platform at the end of November.

Written by a pool of young authors, the series was inspired by the 2014 prostitution scandal, which involved upper-class Italian schoolgirls and men of influence in Rome.

Fabula also has two international coproductions in the works with local broadcasters Rai and Mediaset.

Marco de Angelis

In addition to the investment, Simona Rapino has just been appointed chief operating officer at Fabula. After eight years at a major investment company in Paris, Rapino has joined to help structure the company and sustain its growth.

Federation CEO Breton said: “Nicola and Marco have quickly grown into one of Italy’s top producers of premium series, both for Italian broadcasters and digital platforms, and they have taken their place among the new and dynamic generation of creators of Italian series aimed at the global market.

“Federation has already developed strong ties with Italian broadcasters and producers, as well as provided several series to global platforms, so we’re naturally very excited to acquire a majority share in Fabula, which will give the company the means to speed up its development and capacity to create and finance major international series.”

Nichola de Angelis

In related news, Federation has signed a distribution agreement with French indie Elephant.

Elephant has grown into one of France’s biggest fiction producers and its new shows will be shopped internationally by Federation.

Among the shows produced by the company’s fiction department, led by Gaelle Cholet and Guillaume Renouil, are: Fais pas ci, fais pas ça (Desperate Parents, aired on France 2), Le tueur du lac (Killer by the Lake, TF1), La stagiaire (The Intern, France 3), WorkinGirls (Canal+) and Parents Mode d’Emploi (The PIM: Parenthood Instruction Manual, France 2).