Fremantle bosses Jennifer Mullin and Andrea Scrosati opened up about the company’s three-year deal with Angelina Jolie at Cannes’ Mipcom.
“She had plenty of other opportunities,” said Mullin, Group CEO for the super-indie, which produces everything from “Got Talent” and “Idol” to “My Brilliant Friend” and Luca Guadagnino film “Bones and All.”
“First of all, [Jolie] is global. We are global. She has impeccable taste, she wants to tell ambitious, impactful stories. All of these notes really align with what we want to do.”
“She can tell any story she wants and we can put it anywhere in the world,” continued Mullin. “She felt that Fremantle would offer her the most flexibility and home where she can do her best work.”
The deal was signed in March. Jolie’s upcoming film “Without Blood,” based on a novel by Alessandro Baricco, was shot this summer in Rome, going into pre-production mere weeks after the deal was completed.
“These words, ‘the place creatives call home,’ are really important to us — as a company and as a culture. Our focus is to create irresistible entertainment and in order to do that, we need the best creative talent in the world,” added Mullin.
During their keynote, moderated by PvNew’s executive editor of international Manori Ravindran, Mullin and Scrosati also discussed their “ambitious” growth plans. The company has recently acquired a slew of companies from Irish “Normal People” producer Element Pictures to Italy’s “Devils” outfit Lux Vide.
“We are not ‘buying revenue.’ We are looking to grow,” said Mullin. She stayed mum on RTL’s rumored interest in acquiring ITV Studios, however.
“We look at businesses, creatives and companies that feel like a good fit, that feel complimentary to the type of content we are already producing.”
“For every deal we have done, we passed on 10 because these companies didn’t have the right cultural fit,” admitted COO Scrosati, noting that “real creative exchange” is more important than a strictly financial transaction, even though Fremantle’s aim is to increase full-year revenue to €3 billion ($2.9 billion) by 2025.
“We are on track. Last year was our largest revenue year and this year we will exceed even that,” stated Mullin, adding that Latin America and India are the company’s “priority areas” right now.
The company is also investing in documentaries, said Scrosati.
“A few years ago, Fremantle announced we will be a major player in scripted and quite a few people were skeptical about that. I am confident we will do the same with documentaries. This year, we will deliver 45 documentaries. That’s a huge jump,” he said.
“It’s very important to offer our creative talent the opportunity of being our partners across genres. Many directors have a passion project that’s a doc.” (That includes Angelina Jolie, added Mullin.)
Asked about future challenges, looming over the whole industry, Scrosati said: “We strongly believe in AVOD. In November, December, families will sit by the kitchen table, look at the energy bill and realize they can’t afford nine subscriptions. And even if they do, they will start to think it’s not the right thing to do.”
The company’s credo of “telling stories for everybody” also translates to films, with the likes of Silver Lion winner “Bones and All” generating major award buzz since its premiere in Venice.
“Coming here [to Cannes] feels significant, because that’s where we just got a prize for ‘The Eight Mountains’ [directed by Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix van Groeningen]. A couple of years ago, that wasn’t something that was expected,” said Scrosati.
“We are not in Hollywood blockbuster movies: a movie we will produce will cost a maximum 25 million. There are a lot of ways you can then monetize the movie in its first and second cycle.”
“Today, you can go the traditional route or go directly to streamers, but what I find fascinating is doing hybrid solutions. The model we try to apply is the one we apply for the whole company: it’s producer and creative-led. That’s the only way to go from 8 to 33 features in two years.”
