Fiction
Big Synergy appoints Simmi Karna to produce fiction series for OTT, TV
MUMBAI: Anil D Ambani-owned Reliance Entertainment's Big Synergy, a content creation and production company, is powering its fiction content team and has appointed Simmi Karna to produce fiction series for OTT and broadcasters.
Karna brings to Big Synergy her vast experience of having developed and produced hundreds of hours of fiction content in Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil and Telugu languages and will empower the company’s ambition in both national and regional markets. She has over two decades of experience in creating long form (TV, OTT/web series) and short form content (films, documentaries). In the past, she has worked in various capacities as a writer, producer, director, head of programming, business head, chief revenue officer and content head and has been associated with Sakal Media, Reliance Broadcasting, Balaji Telefilms, IMG and more.
Reliance Entertainment Big Synergy CEO Rajiv Bakshi said, “Big Synergy is committed to producing the finest content across both fiction and non-fiction and across all platforms and markets. Today, we are in an ideal position to create fiction content across all genres including thriller, comedy, romcom, crime, family, mystery, women empowerment and more. The team is passionately progressing in developing multiple high-impact series, with some releases planned across platforms in 2019. With her vast experience, Simmi will further augment our strategy and boost the ambition to offer the widest variety of content and creative partnerships to our esteemed clients on both OTT & broadcast platforms."
Big Synergy has amplified its fiction content offering over the past few years and currently produces impactful content in both genres across broadcast and OTT platforms. Some of the popular fiction web-series include Bose: Dead/Alive on ALTBalaji’s, Yo Ke Hua Bro on Voot and the new season of Savdhaan India, Savdhaan India Naya Adhyay on Star Bharat and many more.
She said, “I am excited to join Big Synergy at this amazing time when the industry is treating content as central for growth. Having produced fiction content in over 5 languages over the last many years, I am confident of creating path-breaking, soul-touching, contemporary and entertaining content for viewers across platforms and markets.”
Fiction
Banijay merges with All3Media in $6.65 billion deal
Marco Bassetti will lead the combined company as CEO
PARIS: Six years after acquiring Endemol Shine at the height of the pandemic, Banijay has struck again. The European production heavyweight is merging with All3Media in a deal that will create a television titan with $6.65 billion in revenue and redraw the contours of a fast-consolidating market.
The combined company will trade under the Banijay name and be owned 50 per cent each by Banijay Group and RedBird IMI, which acquired All3Media in 2024. The transaction is expected to close by autumn, subject to regulatory approvals.
Banijay Entertainment CEO Marco Bassetti, will take the top job at the enlarged group. All3Media CEO Jane Turton becomes deputy CEO. RedBird IMI CEO Jeff Zucker will serve as chairman.
The logic is scale. Broadcasters are commissioning less, streamers are tightening budgets and global buyers are fewer but bigger. Against that backdrop, heft matters. The merged entity will generate roughly $6.65 billion in revenues based on 2024 figures, giving it sharper elbows in rights negotiations and deeper pockets for franchise-building.
“Entrepreneurialism, ambition and creativity” remain core to Banijay’s DNA, Bassetti said, flagging plans to invest more heavily in new intellectual property, live events and emerging platforms. Turton struck a similarly bullish note, pointing to All3Media’s journey from a 2003 start-up to a global supplier of hit formats and high-end drama.
Between them, the two groups control a formidable slate. Banijay’s catalogue spans MasterChef, Big Brother, Survivor, Black Mirror, Peaky Blinders and Deal or No Deal. All3Media’s labels include Studio Lambert, producer of The Traitors and Squid Game: The Challenge; Two Brothers, behind The Tourist; and Neal Street, currently producing the forthcoming Beatles biopics directed by Sam Mendes for Sony.
The back catalogue is equally muscular. Banijay Rights holds some 220,000 hours, while All3Media International adds around 35,000 hours, forming one of the industry’s largest libraries.
Banijay, controlled by French entrepreneur Stéphane Courbit and listed in Amsterdam, counts more than 130 production companies across 25 territories. All3Media operates over 40 labels, with strong positions in the UK, US and Germany. The enlarged group will also lean into live entertainment, building on Banijay’s Balich Wonder Studio, which produced the opening ceremony of the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, and the Independents.
The deal marks a shift in tone. As recently as October, Bassetti suggested that mergers and acquisitions were not a priority. But the drumbeat of consolidation has grown louder. Mediawan has moved for Peter Chernin’s North Road. David Ellison’s Paramount has agreed to a $110 billion takeover of Warner Bros, with plans to combine HBO Max and Paramount plus. ITV has explored selling its media and entertainment arm to Comcast-owned Sky, though talks have reportedly slowed.
