International production giant
Banijay continues to gobble up independent production houses, announcing on Thursday that it has acquired a majority stake in a Belgian boutique Television company Jonny Depony. , will collapse jonnydepony into its script action.
jonnydepony was founded by Philippe De Schepper in 2015 and specializes in high-end dramas, often set up as European collaborations. Recent successes include the Finnish-Belgian crime series Transport from Finnish showrunner Auli Mantila, looks at the underworld of illegal horse smuggling; and horror-thriller Blackout, imagines an attack on a nuclear power plant that plunges Belgium into darkness.
Upcoming projects include high-concept drama Arcadia Blue in co-production with Dutch TV group Big , set in a near-future world where a person’s social status is determined by an algorithmic citizenship score designed to ensure social compliance.
Since 2015, jonnydepony’s co-owners Helen Perquy and De Schepper will continue as company principals.
“Under the leadership of Helen and Philippe, Jonnydepony has built a solid reputation in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany,” says Banijay Benelux CEO Peter Lubbers of the pair. The couple “a unique duo with a highly creative and successful signature” and the jonnydepony label “attracts great talent both in front of and behind the camera.”
Perquy and De Schepper said they were looking forward to working at Banijay “to further develop our business in local and international markets”, noting that “in a fast-growing media ecosystem, it is pleased that Banijay has the same emphasis on intellectual property, strong global distribution and partners with a global network of creatives to join our company.”
since its massive $2.2 billion acquisition of Endemol Shine at 2020 , the deal combines Banijay’s
entertainment and reality franchises, including
Survivor and Temptation Island with Endemol Shine’s unscripted hit library (Big Brother, MasterChef) and scripted dramas like Black Mirror and Peaky Blinders– Banijay has been on a buying spree, snapping up international production houses in a bid to expand and acquire new IP. The company currently owns 22 production companies in countries. Its (unaudited) revenue last year was $3.2 billion (€3 billion).
