Fiction
Government announces SOPs to restart film, TV, OTT production
MUMBAI: It’s all systems go for TV, film and OTT originals’ productions in India. Minister of information and broadcasting Prakash Javadekar today announced the release of standard operating procedures for productions to recommence. Tweeting the announcement Javadekar said, “The general principles behind the SOP will help create a safe working environment for cast and crew in the industry.”
Amongst the measures the MIB has proposed include:
· Minimum cast and crew to be engaged on sets during shoots.
· Resting and stay over facilities to be provided.
· Staggered call and packup times for production units having multiple production locations.
· Older, pregnant, and comorbid technicians and artistes take extra precautions and preferable not be exposed to front line work requiring direct contact with the public.
· Mandatory wearing of masks by all crew excepting the actors facing the camera for a scene.
· Installation of Aarogya Setu app will be advised to be downloaded and used by all.
· Exit and entry signs
· Special markings to ensure social distancing is maintained at six feet for all during every stage of the film making process.
· Visitors and audiences are barred from sets.
· PPEs for make up technicians as well as hair stylist. Wigs and make up kits to not be shared. As far as possible, actors should do their own makeup.
· Rubber gloves for all working with shared equipment on sets.
· Minimise the use of props, sanitise them, if essential.
· Lapel mikes to be avoided and not share. Direct physical contact with the diaphragms of mikes to be avoided.
· A Covid supervisor to be appointed for each production.
· Permissions to be taken from local authorities.
The announcement of the SOPs for media production should come as a relief for India’s film studios, ad film and TV and digital originals producers. The sector has for a large part been held back from producing for the past five months, leading to losses running into thousands of crore.
For a detailed list of the SOPs, click here.
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.
