Vivendi Buys French TV Studio

PARIS: Vivendi has acquired the Studios de Boulogne facilities in Paris, where two of CANAL+'s leading TV shows, Le Grand Journal and Canal Football Club, are being produced.

The studio was established in the early 1940s and was the setting for more than 300 French features, including La dame aux camélias, Les vacances de monsieur Hulot, Touchez pas au grisbi, Les grandes manoeuvres, and also scenes from Fantômas and Les grandes vacances. Among the American films to have been shot there are Billy Wilder’s Love in the Afternoon, John Huston’s The Roots of Heaven, Martin Ritt’s Paris Blues and Stanley Donen’s Charade with Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant.

In 2000, the studio was renovated to become a major TV-production facility. It houses Flab Prod, which was recently acquired by Vivendi as well.