Industry

Banijay today announces French scripted label, Endemol Shine Fiction, has rebranded as Shine Fiction, and has signed its first development deals.

Led by Dominique Farrugia, who has been in post since November 2020, Shine Fiction is building a pipeline of ambitious premium content for the French market, with international potential.

Shine Fiction has signed a deal with talent agent Camille Trumer, giving the company the rights to adapt bestselling novels by Pierre Lemaitre. The award-winning writer is behind multiple blockbuster thrillers, which are now available for development into television series by the business, alongside two other book adaptations with major authors.

This news was announced at Series Mania in Lille, in a panel session led by Banijay’s Head of Scripted Lars Blomgren, with Dominique Farrugia, Tiger Aspect’s Lucy Bedford and Rubicon’s Anne Bjørnstad.

The company also has a number of projects for French broadcasters in the pipeline, including a four-part series for M6 and a 90-minute special for France 2, with further details of these productions to be announced in due course.

Dominique Farrugia, Managing Director at Shine Fiction says: “Shine Fiction is set to be the home for the very best talent in France and these development deals are evidence of our high-end ambitions. Television adaptations of literary successes are hugely popular globally, and without a doubt our deal with the master of suspense, Pierre Lemaitre, will become a premium series to leave audiences gripped, both here in France and internationally.”

Shine Fiction joins Banijay France’s line-up of boutique creative scripted labels Marathon, Terence and Banijay Studios France, the company behind Germinal, which had its worldwide premiere this week at Series Mania.

Banijay is home to the world’s best scripted producers, with over 50 diverse, award-winning labels across the company’s footprint in the UK, US, Australia, Nordics, Germany, Benelux, Iberia, Belgium, Israel, Italy, Poland, Russia and India.

Recent and forthcoming credits include RFDS: Royal Flying Doctors Service (Endemol Shine Banks for Seven), Ripley (Endemol Shine North America for Showtime), SAS: Rogue Heroes (Kudos for BBC ONE), The Rig (Wild Mercury for Amazon Prime), Vinterviken/ JJ & E (Filmlance for Netflix and SVT), A Class Apart (Jarowskij in coproduction with Brommamamma, Film I Väst and Nent Group for Viaplay), Beforeigners (Rubicon for HBO Europe), Heirs to the Land (Diagonal Television for Netflix/Atresmedia/TV Catalunya), Then They Run (Kudos, MadeFor for Sky), Bombay Begums (Endemol Shine India for Netflix), Call My Agent (Applause Entertainment & Banijay Asia), and Valley of Tears (Endemol Shine Israel for IPBC and Netflix)