Monday round-up: Latest deals, news & hires

Monday, 5pm: Winx Club firm Rainbow strikes €90m Equity Club deal

Italian animation firm Rainbow Group has secured a €90m investment that will see TEC Movie become a significant minority stakeholder in the company.

TEC Movie is an independent investment vehicle established as part of The Equity Club (TEC), which is promoted by Roberto Ferraresi and Filippo Penatti. It operates on behalf of a group of Mediobanca’s ultra-high net worth clients.

Rainbow, which was founded in 1995 by Iginio Straffi, is behind IP such as Winx Club and Mermaid Magic, as well as live-action films such as The Tearsmith and My Name Is Vendetta.

The Italian company said the investment would “help fund a pipeline of important investments that Rainbow intends to make in the coming years”, aimed at strengthen its existing IP library and developing new properties across the world.

As a result of the deal, Rainbow Group said it would “consolidate its international leadership” and explore “strategic M&A transactions involving both major IP and companies in Italy and worldwide that share synergies with the group.” Further details were not revealed.

Monday,4.23pm: Scotland’s STV Player snaps up US Bridge of Lies

STV Player in Scotland will be the exclusive UK home of the US version of STV Studios’ hit BBC1 daytime quiz Bridge of Lies.

Known as Beat the Bridge, the US version launched on Game Show Network (GSN) across the pond last summer.

It follows the same format as the UK original, with teams of three competing to cross the bridge by stepping on the right answers to trivia questions. Each step forward banks money for the team, with bonus cash for each successful crossing, however, the team only gets to keep the prize pot if it can ‘beat the bridge’ by returning one of its players across the bridge before the time runs out.

The US series is co-produced by Game Show Enterprises Studios and STV Studios.

Monday, 3.21pm: UK’s Maidstone Studios appoints chief to take it into ‘next era’

Maidstone Studios, the studio that has housed upcoming ITV entertainment series Genius Game, BBC comedy This Time with Alan Partridge, and gameshows Deal or No Deal and Catchphrase, has appointed a new chief executive.

Current chief operating officer Dave Parker has been upped to the role after nine years at the company. He said he looked forward to “leading the company into its next chapter and we will continue to adapt and evolve the business”.

Owner and chairman of Maidstone Studios Geoff Miles said that Parker had “huge visions for taking Maidstone Studios into the next era.”

Monday, 12.49pm: Mega Chile enters Kanal D’s Love Trap

Turkish romantic comedy Love Trap has been acquired by Mega Chile, following a deal with Kanal D International.

The scripted series explores the relationship between a hardworking young woman seeking to escape her stagnant life and a charismatic but irresponsible heir to a textile empire who struggles to meet his father’s high expectations.

The 136-episode show is produced by ARC Film and debuted on Kanal D in Turkey in 2020.  

Monday, 11.23am: Brook Lapping delves into Israel-Palestine conflict

Zinc-backed Brook Lapping is to produce a 3 x 60-minutes series looking at the lead-up to the attacks of 7 October 2023 for BBC2 in the UK.

Israel and the Palestinians: The Road to 7th October (w/t) will chronicle the decisions that have shaped the conflict in the Middle East over the past 20 years and the failed attempts to broker peace.

The series will open with former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s decision to withdraw from Gaza in 2003, and will document the inside story of Hamas’ takeover of Gaza and how the organisation cemented power.

Monday, 10.15am: John de Mol’s Talpa hires Traitors co-creator

John de Mol’s Talpa Studios has hired one of the key talents behind hit reality format The Traitors as its chief creative officer.

Jasper Hoogendoorn was most recently creative director at Netherlands-based All3Media label IDTV, which was behind the De Verraders show that has gone on to be remade as The Traitors in more than 30 countries.

The original show debuted on RTL4 in the Netherlands in 2021 and was developed by Hoogendoorn and Marc Pos, who struck a deal with Banijay last year. Read more 

Monday, 9.59am: SBS6 extends rebooted medical drama

Talpa Network in the Netherlands has ordered a second season of its recently rebooted medical drama, Medisch Centrum West.

The weekly show, which returned to screens last year after a three-decade absence, debuted on Talpa’s SBS6 and was also made available on Warner Bros. Discovery’s streamer HBO Max in the Netherlands.

Medisch Centrum West follows doctors and nurses working in an emergency room, peeling back the exciting but harsh reality of hospital life.

It originally ran for seven seasons from 1988 to 1994 on public broadcaster TROS, which merged with AVRO in 2014 to become AVROTROS. Talpa TV produces in collaboration with Belgium’s VTM.

Monday, 9.35am: Wildflame chief heads to DLT Entertainment

The chief executive of now-defunct Welsh indie Wildflame has been appointed as director of programmes at DLT Entertainment, with the hire marking the indie’s expansion into Wales.

Headquartered in London and New York, the production and distribution outfit behind long-running BBC1 sitcom My Family is opening a factual production office in Wales called DLT Entertainment Wales. Paul Islwyn Thomas will oversee a slate of new development projects and serve as the main point of contact for Wales-based productions.

The factual veteran set up Cardiff-based Wildflame in 2016 under Flame Media and established the indie as an independently owned and managed label during the pandemic. The indie, which was responsible for docs including Sex, Me and Disability, shuttered in August amid tough market conditions. Read more

Monday, 9.03am: Pluto TV lands darts coverage 

FAST operator Pluto TV is to launch a new darts-focused channel following a deal with MODUS Super Series.

The MODUS Super Series Darts channel will provide coverage of 104 live matches taking place every week, while analysis shows and behind-the-scenes programming will also be available.

The channel is launching across multiple international markets, including exclusively in the UK and Denmark. Pluto TV is also becoming title sponsor of MODUS Super Series.