John De Mol’s Talpa Forms Local JVs With Warner Bros’ Shed Media & More

Dutch media entrepreneur John De Mol‘s Talpa Media Holdings has established new joint ventures in the UK, Italy and the Nordic region. The moves give Talpa the ability to produce local versions of formats from its own catalogue for TV channels in the respective markets, an increasing trend among players. Warner Bros‘ Shed Media Group has partnered with Talpa for Talpa UK. The partners are already in business on The Voice UK; De Mol co-created the format which is produced by Shed’s Wall to Wall. The new deal gives Shed exclusive access to the Talpa catalogue, including new reality show Utopia, which was picked up by Fox in the U.S. in January. Along with Wall to Wall, Shed houses six other UK production companies including Ricochet and Twenty Twenty. De Mol initially said he was looking to establish a UK-based company in 2012. In Italy, Talpa has teamed with Toro TV for Talpa Italia and in Northern Europe it will work with Nordisk Film TV in Scandinavia together with Banijay Finland in Finland via Talpa Nordic. Pim Schmitz, CEO of Talpa Holding, says, “In producing our formats, we’re used to working as co-producers together with local parties all over the world. What we’re now doing in the UK, Italy and the Northern European countries goes a step further. Talpa will now produce under its own brand, and for us that’s an important milestone in terms of the company’s international growth.”

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