Federation’s Lionel Uzan

Out of offices in Paris and Los Angeles, Federation Entertainment has been steadily building a diverse slate of scripted projects, from the French-language series Le Bureau des Légendes and Marseille to the Israeli drama Hostages, using a variety of co-production, financing and distribution models. Founded by Pascal Breton, the venture, run by managing director and partner Lionel Uzan, is looking to ride the wave of demand for international drama with its expanding slate. Uzan tells TV Drama Weekly about trends in the market and what’s ahead for the company.

TV DRAMA: What are some of the new dramas you’re working on at Federation?
UZAN: In terms of European drama, we have six series either shooting or in post-production, from diverse sources. The company started with French-speaking series. Right now we have two in post-production. The first is season two of a show we produce for CANAL+, called The Bureau (Le Bureau des Légendes). The second is Marseille for Netflix. We also have local European dramas, and we have a big business going on with Israel. We are post-producing season two of Hostages. We have two Scandinavian series, coming out of Finland. One is being delivered now; it’s called Replacements. A second one is being edited now, called Bordertown. We announced at the end of 2015 that we are the French producing component on an English-language series called The Collectionfrom Lookout Point in the U.K., [with] BBC Worldwide and Amazon as the main financial partners and co-producers.

It’s a very diverse slate. Marseille is more of an internal production. The Bureauis part of an overall deal we have with Eric Rochant, the director, and his producing partner, Alex Berger. With the Israeli and Scandinavian producers it’s also co-productions. And on The Collection, Lookout Point came to us to find the right French partner.

TV DRAMA: What kind of international demand are you seeing for scripted product out of France?
UZAN: I would say the interest is strong in the sense that from every territory, at the minimum from the other European countries and from the U.S., everybody is following very closely what’s happening and every single new project. Then, when the show is ready and it’s been shown to everyone, it’s up to the quality of the series, the originality of the series. The level of interest is very high and it’s impressive to see that the buyers have lots of knowledge of what’s happening in France. I’m not sure that was the case five years ago. But the wave of good programming from CANAL+ or France Télévisions or TF1, and The Returned being the huge blockbuster that it was, have raised the level of interest very clearly, whether it’s for the original series or for remakes. But not every French series finds buyers and/or an audience.

TV DRAMA: I’ve heard that when you’re dealing with non-English-language product, you really need a strong hook to get the buyers’ attention.
UZAN: Exactly. It’s niche programming. It’s not that some can’t find a wide audience. I think The Returned proved that is very possible. Hostages is another example. It was shown on BBC Four in the U.K. We’ve seen it with lots of Scandinavian dramas. The barrier of the language is still there, but it isn’t as high as it used to be. And some totally break through: The Killing, The Returned, etc.

TV DRAMA: Is there still strong demand for the Scandi series?
UZAN: There’s still very strong interest. When you look at what is still coming out of Scandinavia, whether it’s Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, it’s still very, very good. Maybe there’s less buzz—in a sense the territory has been discovered, so it’s not a new frontier anymore. But the output is still super strong. For us partnering with European producers on European projects, it’s pretty much the first territory we tried to work with. They have very strong writers, directors and actors.

TV DRAMA: What’s the potential for more cross-European co-pros?
UZAN: For English-language shows it’s all the rage. And partnership has become the flavor of the month, which is great. English-speaking European dramas meant to be co-produced—in the sense that they need artistic input or co-financing—is a big trend and I don’t see that going down. It’s also interesting to see some of the U.S. studios, mini studios, interested in being involved in purely European dramas. On the co-productions where one of the languages is dominant, let’s say a Franco-German co-production purely in French or purely in German, it is a bit more difficult. I see the interest of people who want to make a project like that, but it’s difficult to find the right subjects. You need to have it in the artistic DNA of the project. If you try to force it, it just doesn’t work.

TV DRAMA: How much have OTT platforms changed the way you finance and distribute drama?
UZAN: It’s shifted in a big way, with some clear advantages, and some things that are just more difficult to address. [Having] more buyers is always good! It creates competition, which is good. What’s difficult is how to organize your windows. That’s becoming complex. OTT platforms started buying locally and now it’s about buying global rights. So what does it mean for a distributor in terms of windowing? What do you favor in terms of deals? Is it good to do a global deal? Is it better to sell territory by territory? What do you do if you get an offer out of Germany from a broadcaster, but you know if you make that sale then maybe a deal with a platform that wants to have the major European territories might be at stake? It’s that complexity we have to address. And I think it’s going to be more and more complex.

TV DRAMA: What are your goals for Federation’s drama business in the year ahead?
UZAN: [To] at least keep up in terms of the volume of production. We’re at a good level. We’re also doing kids’ programming. So, by adding our kids’ programming to our drama series, I hope we are closer to eight to ten shows by 2017-18. And we want to see renewals on the shows we have already. Now we’re on season two of The Bureau; the level of interest from buyers has never been higher.