The production company behind Netflix drama “The Playlist,” about the creation of music streaming business Spotify, is shutting down after six years.
The London-headquartered YellowBird U.K. was set up in 2017 as the British sister company to Stockholm-based “Wallander” producers YellowBird Sweden. Led by long-time YellowBird executive Berna Levin and tasked with securing international-facing commissions with a “Scandi edge” for the U.K. market, its main productions were “The Playlist” and “Young Wallander,” both of which were for Netflix.
A shift in strategy at Banijay will now see the company closing its doors.
Banijay U.K. boss Patrick Holland recently informed staff of the decision, suggesting in a memo that the super-indie’s U.K. businesses have a new focus of “pitching to U.K. broadcasters and streamers” rather than to international companies. (Read Holland’s full memo below.)
In a challenged economic climate for the industry, where many businesses are streamlining assets, it’s possible that having a sister company in the U.K. securing global-facing commissions such as “Young Wallander” — which could have come from the Stockholm-based YellowBird — was seen as redundant. From a content perspective, Netflix also failed to renew “Young Wallander” beyond its two seasons (the most recent of which aired in 2022), while “The Playlist,” which debuted in October to so-so reviews, was not renewed for Season 2.
YellowBird U.S. is not believed to be affected by the U.K. decision. The American outpost was set up in 2018 under YellowBird Sweden alumna Marianne Gray, and has projects in development with Netflix, Sony Pictures Television and Lionsgate. However, it doesn’t appear to have launched a production to date.
Banijay, which is best known for unscripted behemoths such as “Survivor,” “MasterChef” and “Big Brother,” has been hot on the acquisition front in the last year. The U.K., in particular, is a key area of growth for the company in order to expand its stable of English-language scripted content. Banijay recently acquired a stake in “Happy Valley” star James Norton’s Rabbit Track, while other U.K. scripted subsidiaries include Conker Pictures and Mam Tor.
PvNew understands that YellowBird Sweden is not affected by the closure of its U.K. sister outfit, and will continue to operate in the Nordics. The company is best known as the producers of author Stieg Larsson’s “Millennium” trilogy, known as “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” books, as well as “Wallander,” “Thin Ice” and “Occupied.”
Read the memo from Holland below:
Dear all
Together with our colleagues in Banijay Nordics, we’ve made the difficult decision to close the international focussed drama label Yellow Bird UK.
Run by Berna Levin, the company has had some great success with the likes of The Playlist and Young Wallander for Netflix. The label was set up in 2017, as an arm of the well-established Yellow Bird Sweden, with a mission to bring high quality drama, with a Scandi flavour, to international buyers.
As you know, at Banijay UK we are investing in our domestic scripted portfolio of companies and continue to target growth in this genre. However, we believe the focus needs to be on UK based companies pitching to UK broadcasters and streamers. Yellow Bird Sweden continues as a strong producer for the wider group supplying content predominantly to the Nordics.
My huge thanks go to Berna and her team, and I wish them all the very best in their next roles.
If you have any questions, please do let me know.
Patrick
YellowBird U.K. boss Berna Levin also followed up with a note:
”After 16 years with Yellow Bird it is time for me to move on to new challenges. I leave feeling grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had within the Banijay Group and immensely proud of everything we’ve accomplished together from ‘The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo’ to ‘The Playlist.’”
