Banijay UK Acquires The Forge

Banijay UK has added the Marriage, Help and Becoming Elizabeth producer The Forge to its stable of companies.

The Forge’s current roster of titles in production includes The Buccaneers for Apple TV+, due to launch globally on November 8; the Disney+ series Shardlake by Stephen Butchard (The Last Kingdom); a factual drama about the Grenfell disaster by Peter Kosminsky (Undeclared War, Government Inspector, Wolf Hall) for BBC One; a youth-skewing drama series for BBC Three; and Generation Z, the first original TV project from Ben Wheatley (The Meg II, Sightseers, Kill List) currently shooting for Channel 4.

Patrick Holland, CEO of Banijay UK, said: “I have been a massive admirer of The Forge since its inception. George Faber, Mark Pybus, Beth Willis and George Ormond have together grown one of the most ambitious and exciting drama slates in the U.K. With a commitment to the most distinctive authorship, a desire to make shows of the highest quality and a creative commitment to make drama that appeals to broad audiences, The Forge is an extraordinary group of talented producers. We are so delighted that they have chosen Banijay UK as their partner for their next chapter of growth, and I can’t wait for them to join the other brilliant companies in the group.”

George Faber, founder of The Forge, added: “We’re thrilled to be going into partnership with Banijay, a company whose culture and values feel like a great fit for The Forge. We’re ambitious for the next stage of our growth, and we believe that Banijay’s superb distribution arm, production expertise, management team and global reach will help us chart an exciting path to the future.”