Federation Entertainment, the production entity behind “Around the World in 80 Days” and “The Bureau,” has acquired a majority stake in independent French company Robin & Co.
Founded in 1998 by Jean-Yves Robin, the Robin & Co group includes subsidiaries Calt Production (“Kaamelott”), Calt Studio (“Moloch”), Calt Story (“La Dernière Partie”), Hope Production (“Human”), Monkey Pack Film (“Café de Flore) and Robin Production, a subsidiary currently in production on projects from Daniel Auteuil, Morgane Cadignan and Sandrine Sarroche.
The merger marks a busy expansion time for Federation, which was set up in 2013, headed by Pascal Breton and co-directed by Lionel Uzan. In recent months it started U.S.-based management and production company, Animal Federation; boarded European literary streamer Rocambole; set up an U.K. office; and also launched French TV/Film label Anonymous/Federation along with Anonymous Content.
Pascal Breton, president of Federation, said: “The exceptional relationship that Jean-Yves Robin has managed to build with many actors, writers and directors, especially in comedy, is unique in France. He and his team of producers know how to accompany all these talents from the Festival du Rire comedy festival and small stand-up venues to the biggest popular successes, both in series or cinema. Our association can offer them even more outlets on channels, platforms, the international market and all the derivative markets born of the digital revolution that we are exploring.”
Jean-Yves Robin, president of Robin & Co, said: “Almost 24 years after the creation of Robin & Co, I wanted to give a new impetus to the group by approaching an industry partner who understands where we come from and our way of working, namely through a very strong relationship with our talents. The project that Pascal has built with his team is a perfect fit and I felt the obvious complementarities between our two groups, both artistically and in terms of business. Robin & Co is a close-knit team that includes producers, but also financial (Hadrien Foussard) and legal (Camille Chapuis) talents covering the whole spectrum of our activities. I am very happy that Robin & Co is a new member of this federation of creators that is Federation.”
The Federation group has a total of 20 subsidiary or associate production companies based in Paris, Los Angeles, Rome, Madrid, Berlin, London, Brussels and Tel Aviv.