FremantleMedia Takes Majority Stake in French Scripted Producer

LONDON: FremantleMedia has acquired a majority stake in the French producer Kwai, which specializes in fiction TV movies and series.

Kwai is led by writer and producer Thomas Bourguignon, creator of the popular French detective series Femmes de Loi, which ran from 2000 to 2009. Kwai recently delivered two TV movies, Un Fils and Meurtre a Carcassonne, as well as the pilot Le Zebre, all on air earlier this year. Upcoming series include Republican Gangsters for CANAL+ and Godzilla for ARTE.

The acquisition of the stake in Kwai follows on the company's recent investment in Fontaram, a French production company specialized in scripted programming. These are the latest in a number of acquisitions and creative talent partnerships by FremantleMedia, including Corona, Wildside, Naked Entertainment, No Pictures Please and Skylark.

Monica Galer, the CEO of FremantleMedia France, will also be the CEO of Kwai. Galer commented, “Thomas Bourguignon is a brilliant writer and producer and we look forward to creating some really exciting scripted projects with him, in France and beyond.”