Zodiak Rights Enters First-Look Pact with Arise Pictures

LONDON: Zodiak Rights, which is now part of the Banijay Group, has secured a first-look finance and distribution deal with Arise Pictures, which has a slate that spans across drama, action and family entertainment.

The multiyear pact is anticipated to garner $150 million of scripted content across Arise’s slate, bolstering Banijay Group’s plans to further expand its presence in the scripted marketplace. The first series under the deal is expected to go into production later this year.

Arise Pictures’ original slate of programming was created and written by its co-founder, David Raymond. Executive producer Chris Pettit, who co-founded Arise Pictures with Raymond, runs the business, finance and advisory operations of the production and finance company.

Tim Mutimer, the head of distribution for the Banijay Group, said: “David is brilliant at creating original, returnable series with global appeal and Arise comes equipped with a slate of content which perfectly aligns with the Banijay Group scripted strategy. We are delighted to be working together to utilize the international distribution channels of the newly merged group to help bring these projects to the market.”

Caroline Torrance, the head of scripted at Zodiak Rights, added: “David is a fantastic emerging talent and we’re thrilled to be collaborating with such dynamic and creative partners. With the scripted market currently enjoying such expansion and diversification Zodiak Rights is continuing to build on its successes and future ambitions. We are truly excited by the prospect of working with producers with such distinct content.”

Raymond commented: “For me the great thing here is the creative support. By collaborating with a global partner we have been able to create a flexible commercial framework which puts the creatives first and molds the finance plan around the project’s individual requirements. It’s liberating and gives us a platform to focus on narrative and hopefully create content that audiences are going to want to return to.”