Angelina Jolie Deal Dissected By Fremantle Bosses Jennifer Mullin & Andrea Scrosati – Mipcom Cannes
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Fremantle bosses Jennifer Mullin and Andrea Scrosati have dissected the Angelina Jolie deal that is seeing the Oscar winner produce films, TV drama and docs over the next three years, with Scrosati talking up the agnostic nature of the partnership.
Delivering a rare keynote together at Mipcom Cannes, the CEO and Group COO said Jolie had been courted by several suitors when they were first meeting with her last year.
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“She was looking for a producing partner and had plenty of opportunity with others,” said Mullin. “We met a couple of times when we were in the throes of Covid always over Zoom. She wants to tell ambitious and impactful stories and we can hit all the right notes and tones.”
Mullin added that Fremantle can “offer her the most flexibility,” while Scrosasti stressed the agnostic nature of the deal compared with streamer ‘golden handcuffs’ tie-ups.
“With us, talent know we will focus on their projects and then together we will find the right home,” Scrosati went on to say. “This means a bit of risk in the initial phase but I think this is the best job for a producer.”
Oscar-winning Girl, Interrupted, Mr & Mrs Smith and Changeling actress Jolie, who is a Special Envoy for the UN refugee agency, will produce, direct or star in film, TV drama and docs on a case-by-case basis as she seeks to tell stories that are sophisticated, powerful and internationally focused, including local language projects.
The first to emerge from the project is an adaptation of Alessandro Baricco’s international bestseller Without Blood, which went into production a week after the deal was struck.
In a wide-ranging Mipcom panel, the pair said they are on track to hit the ambitious €3B revenue targets set by parent RTL Group by 2025, following a record 2021 of circa-€2B even as the Covid pandemic was still having an impact.
“Covid was tough but we rebounded very well,” said Mullin, who swerved a question on the reports that RTL owner Bertelsmann is interested in acquiring ITV Studios.
With recent Fremantle acquisitions including Normal People producer Element Pictures and Italian veteran indie Lux Vide, the pair hinted that more M&A is to come but companies need to be the right cultural fit.
“For every deal we’ve done we pass on 10,” said Scrosati. “There is obviously a financial component but the real job starts when transaction is done. This is about creative vision.”
They also dampened concerns that the Europe-wide cost-of-living crisis is going to have a major impact on production.
Scrosati said the company had “closed down 470 sets in a day” due to Covid” in March 2020 and within a year had hit record revenues.
Mullin added that Fremantle has conversations with commissioners over budgets on a “case by case basis.”
“We’re not being that prescriptive,” she added. “We operate in many territories and take the lead from that territory to see what challenges are there to help support them.”
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