International Insider: European C-Suite Turbulence

The hour is upon us, and Insider is back again. As always, we’ve got the top headlines from international film and TV. Jesse Whittock on the buttons. Let’s begin, and sign up to the newsletter here.

Euro C-Suite Turbulence

Shareholders strike: The jockeying at the top of some of Europe’s biggest content makers will prove hugely consequential. With streaming rocking the European TV sector to its core over recent years, the likes of ProSiebenSat.1 Media, MediaForEurope (MFE) and Mediapro have been realigning their strategies to pivot to the digital revolution. Perhaps no single network has encapsulated the struggle more than Germany’s ProSieben, which has spent much of the past two years turning around a huge broadcast liner to become a digital-first business that places jack-of-all-trades streamer Joyn at the center. Shareholders have complained about the speed of progress and welcome the strategy shift in the same breath, all the while demanding the business grows what’s left of the overnight audience share. Following MFE’s takeover of the business last month – a process that felt like it went on forever – questions have been asked about what direction the Berlusconi-family led MFE would want. In an interview I conducted with ProSieben content and networks chief Henrik Pabst at MIPCOM last week, he said talks would begin soon with the new owners about how things might shake out, while saying there had been no editorial interference at that point. Things might be different now, as MFE this week unexpectedly cleared out the ProSieben C-suite and replacing respected ProSieben CEO Bert Habets with its own CFO, Marco Giordani. A financial head in a CEO post often points to large-scale restructuring, so we shall see. ProSieben wasn’t the only European media giant embracing change this week, as Tatxo Benet exited his CEO and chairman role at Spanish production giant Mediapro after 25 years. His departure means none of the original founders remain with the company, and reports suggest former Movistar director Sergio Oslé is primed to replace him. Benet, whose role building the Catalonian giant into a major sports can’t be understated, would have known his post was under threat after Mediapro lost a long-standing contract to produce LaLiga soccer matches. He exits after an agreement with Hong Kong-based majority shareholder SouthWind. Change is certainly afoot.

Studios’ $1B Bet On SkyShowtime

SkyShow me the money: SkyShowtime, the European streamer, has always been a unique beast. Launched during the pandemic at the height of global streamer fever by Comcast and Paramount, it has sought to gain traction in mainland Europe and establish a place alongside the likes of Netflix, Prime Video and Disney+ through a mix of studio fare from its parents and local originals that others might not make. Little has been reported on its financial state, but Jake revealed this week that Comcast has invested at least £573M ($767M) since launch and Paramount $246M, meaning the spend is above $1B. There are caveats – some of this could be the creative in-house accounting that Hollywood is famous for and sales have been increasing year-on-year – but UK filings show SkyShowtime posting huge losses for 2022, 2023 and 2024. SkyShowtime believes it is operating in line with other streamers, and is committed to investing in 10 original series a year, while also providing subscribers with access to the likes of Yellowstone and The Iris Affair. With Paramount among the apparent suitors for Warner Bros. Discovery, and more corporate change set to come, the question is what role SkyShowtime performs in the Medialand of tomorrow. Read the report here.

AI Presenters

Gaban the headlines: Another AI first this week, as Channel 4 became the first British broadcaster to have an AI-created presenter front a program. The ‘journalist’, Aisha Gaban, only revealed her status at the end of Dispatches current affairs program Will AI Take My Job?. It was the sort of intentionally provocative stunt on which Channel built its reputation, and personally I want to see more TV shows that confound my expectations. Of course, the Tilly Norwood debate rages on in Hollywood. We had a follow-up report to Gaban’s debut, with Channel 4 news chief Louisa Compton saying the UK network would continue to experiment with AI and various news anchors and agents weighing in on what it all means for the future of production. Jonathan Shalit, chairman of InterTalent Rights Group, which reps the likes of Susanna Reid, was positive about Channel 4’s stunt, telling us, “I would say to people, ‘Rather than look at AI as the enemy, look upon it as a new friend.’”

Sarkozy In Prison

Former leader locked up: There was a time when Nicolas Sarkozy was one of the most powerful politicians in Europe, and 13.3 million tuned in as he swept to victory in the 2007 French elections. The cameras were back 18 years later in very different circumstances, as the disgraced former President set off to begin a five-year sentence at La Santé prison in Paris. He had been found guilty of conspiring to raise funds from late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to finance his campaign, and became the first post-World War II leader in France to go to jail. Channels in France and around the world lapped up his final moments of freedom, with coverage capturing him leaving his swanky Paris home to make the journey to prison. For what it’s worth, Sarkozy claims innocence and says that he has been the victim of a political ploy. Right-leaning news outlets support his position. On the other side, the investigative news site Mediapart, which first broke news of Sarkozy’s Libya link, and other progressive titles delivered stinging editorials on his conduct. It emerged that among the few belongings he will have in Le Santé are a TV and a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo, a book famously about a wrongly imprisoned man.

Proudfoot Forward

‘Eyes’ on Ghana: Diana Lodderhose this week published an interview with , the Oscar-winning director who played his feature doc, The Eyes of Ghana, at the London Film Festival earlier this year. Counting Barack and Michelle Obama among its exec producers, Proudfoot’s film follows Chris Hesse, a nonagenarian photographer who snapped African revolutionary leader Kwame Nkrumah. The doc details Nkrumah’s rise as Ghana’s first President in the 1950s and how he inspired the wider liberation of Africa. “His story has been intentionally erased in the West,” Proudfoot tells Diana. This ties with what the producers behind Shaka iLembe recently told me about their series – that it was partly created to correct years of broken narrative around the legendary Zulu leader from Western sources. More on the doc and Proudfoot’s relationship with the Obamas here.

The Essentials

🌶️ Hot One from Baz: Bridget Jones, the madcap heroine with love’s worst track record, will be immortalized with a statue in London’s Leicester Square.

🌶️ And a Hot One: Sky’s latest doc is an investigation into the bizarre – and still unfolding – story behind The Salt Path.

🔥 One more: Brit multi-hyphenate and comedian Alice Lowe has inked a two-picture deal with UK production company Western Edge Pictures.

🗣️ Keeeep talking: Claudia Winkleman is set to front a BBC talkshow after she and Tess Daly dropped the bombshell they were sashaying their way out of UK Saturday night monolith Strictly Come Dancing.

🌴 AFM: Plenty of pre-American Film Market news has been breaking this week ahead of the event next month.

🏖️ Focus: Morocco will be the Country of Focus at the Berlinale’s EFM next year.

🃏 ‘Wild Cards’ on the table: Blink49 Studios and Piller/Segan are formalizing their long-time partnership, which has already spawned CBC and The CW light-crime series Wild Cards.

🌍 Globie: Back after a short break, our Global Breakouts strand features a British film for the first time, Kirk Jones’ Tourette’s syndrome feature I Swear.

International Insider was written by Jesse Whittock and edited by Max Goldbart.