France’s Mediawan acquires majority stake in Dutch production outfit Submarine

MIPTV: French production and distribution group Mediawan has acquired a majority stake in Netherlands-based production company Submarine.

Elisabeth d’Arvieu

Amsterdam-based Submarine develops and produces international scripted series and feature films, animation for kids and adults, and documentaries.

The deal was announced on the first day of MipTV in Cannes. Financial terms and the size of the stake were not disclosed.

Submarine owns a large animation studio in the Netherlands. The group boasts a roster of films and TV series made in collaboration with an extensive network of creators such as Leonardo Fasoli, Richard Linklater, Tommy Pallotta, Douglas Rushkoff and Hisko Hulsing.

This new partnership will accelerate Mediawan’s strategy of setting up international coproductions and building a catalogue of IP.

Submarine has produced films and series including Emmy-winning documentary Bellingcat: Truth in a Post-Truth World and Netflix original Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press.

Most recently, Submarine produced Linklater’s latest film, Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood, for Netflix, plus Prime Video’s Undone, by BoJack Horseman creators Kate Purdy and Raphael Bob Waksberg.

Forthcoming projects include drama series The Kollective, written by Gomorrah and ZeroZeroZero showrunner Fasoli and Maddalena Rvaglia; and Safe Harbor, a crime series inspired by real events that comes from Ozark co-creator Mark Williams.

Elisabeth d’Arvieu, CEO of Mediawan Pictures, said: “We are delighted to welcome within Mediawan a team as creative and renowned as the Submarine team. Their expertise in all genres, and particularly in adult animation and international series, and their appetite for coproductions is a real asset for the continuous development of our group.”