EXCLUSIVE: As the drama biz convenes in Lille for Series Mania, Marco Bassetti, CEO of Europe-based indie production and distribution heavyweight Banijay Entertainment, tells Deadline about his billion-dollar ambition in scripted.
“I think that we are going to reach close to €1BN [$1.1BN] of business in scripted next year,” Bassetti says in an exclusive interview. “From where we started to where we are today, we are the biggest European producer in scripted. We are happy about what we have done.”
The Banijay boss is referencing a European Audiovisual Observatory report that ranks Banijay as the top independent producer in Europe terms of number of titles with 53 for 2023 (the latest measurement period), and in terms of the number of countries productions are originated in, 11.
Bassetti says there is still space to grow that drama footprint. “If you look at where we stand with our unscripted business, we are pretty big in many countries. I think that we have opportunity to grow more in scripted.”
Looking at the map, he namechecks some countries where he plans to bolster Banijay’s drama business.
“I’m thinking about UK, and there is also more space for us in the French and German markets because we are not big enough there. In Germany, the public channels invest a lot, and the streamers are going to invest a lot of money. Australia is also becoming a big market for us. We produce NCIS Sydney [through Endemol Shine Australia] and CBS is very happy. Italy is becoming a big market for us and Spain as well.”
Banijay’s Endemol Shine America was a producer on Ripley, which scored 13 Emmy noms and notched four wins, but looking at that world map again, U.S. drama expansion is not a top priority.
“So far, we have not entered the U.S. [scripted] market,” he says. “First of all, you have to compete with the big, big players, and then the business model is different. It’s not a cost-plus model. You have to take a huge risk on the series that you are producing. Big Hollywood studios can take that risk, because of the huge amount of money coming from their libraries. If I look at my peers that did go into the U.S., from what I can see they are not so successful. To be a European company, to go and compete in the U.S. scripted market, is very difficult.”
