Zodiak Media
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (February 2013) |
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| Industry | Media |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2008 |
| Headquarters | Paris, France |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Marc-Antoine d'Halluin, CEO |
| Parent | De Agostini |
| Website | http://www.zodiakmedia.com |
Zodiak Media is an independent media company that produces entertainment, factual, drama and kids' programming, with 45 companies operating in 15 countries. Zodiak Media owns properties such as Millennium, Wife Swap, The Secret Millionaire, The Inbetweeners, Totally Spies!, Fort Boyard, and Being Human.
Zodiak Media is headquartered in Paris and with other key offices in London, Los Angeles, Milan, Stockholm and Moscow. Zodiak Media is part of the Banijay Group, 73.8% controlled by a company composed of Stéphane Courbit’s LOV Group (50.1%) and DeA Communications – a company belonging to De Agostini Group (49.9%), with Vivendi owning 26.2% of the total Group.[1]
History
Zodiak Media was formed in November 2008 as Zodiak Entertainment, after De Agostini Communications acquired Magnolia (2007), the Marathon Group (2007) and Zodiak Television (2008).[2] In July 2010, the company rebranded itself as Zodiak Media, following the acquisition of the RDF Media Group, one of the UK's largest independent production and distribution companies with operations in the UK and the US.[3][failed verification][2] The acquisition of RDF consolidated Zodiak Media's position as a global force in the production and distribution of content for multi-media platforms, the most significant of which is television. In February 2016, Zodiak Media merged with Banijay Group.[4]
Zodiak Media companies
- Zodiak Americas[5]
Zodiak Americas is the North, Central and South American operation for Zodiak Media. The division's three companies; Zodiak Los Angeles, Zodiak New York and Zodiak Latino; distribute Zodiak Media properties and produce original content for their respective service areas. Production credits include:
- Zodiak New York and Zodiak Los Angeles: Secret Millionaire, Celebrity Wife Swap, Being Human, Hardcore Pawn, Lizard Lick Towing and Killer Karaoke.
- Zodiak Latino: La Expedición Sing if you Can Peru
- Zodiak France
Zodiak's French division comprises seven different companies: Marathon Media, Tele Images, Marathon Images, GTV, Mona Lisa, Adventure Line Productions and KM ; and produces a variety of content across several genres including documentaries, factual programmes, scripted drama, and entertainment formats.
Zodiak France's production credits include:
- Marathon Media: Totally Spies!, Get Blake!, LoliRock and Rekkit Rabbit
- Tele Images: Sally Bollywood, Extreme Football, Magiki, The Ranch and The Basketeers
- Marathon Images: Totally Spies!, St Tropez, Braquo
- GTV: Blood on the Docks, I Love Périgord
- Adventure Line Productions: Fort Boyard
- KM: Le Grand Journal
- Zodiak Kids
Zodiak's Kids division comprises three different production companies: Marathon Media, TeleImages Productions, and The Foundation; now merged under the umbrella brand Zodiak Kids Studios and produces a variety of pre-school and children's programmes.
Zodiak Kids' production credits include:
- Decode Entertainment: Waybuloo
- The Foundation: Floogals, Finger Tips, Mister Maker, Millie Inbetween, Dani's Castle, Zack & Quack, Secret Life of Boys, Fort Boyard The Ultimate Challenge
- Marathon Media: Totally Spies, Gormitti, Martin Mystery
- TeleImages Productions: Street Basketball, Le Ranch
- Zodiak Middle East Asia and Australasia (MEAA)
Zodiak's MEAA arm consists solely of its Mumbai-based production company Sol, whose production credits include Koffee with Karan, Nach Baliye, Rakhi Ka Swayamwar, Zara Nach Ke DIkha and Just Dance and others.
- Zodiak Nordic
Zodiak's Nordic division comprises companies operating in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Finland. The Mastiff brand unifies the operations in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, while Jarowskij operates in Sweden and Zodiak Finland in Finland.
Zodiak's Yellow Bird subsidiary is credited with the Swedish-language film adaptation of Stieg Larsen's Millennium series (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest).
- Zodiak Rights
Zodiak Rights is the international rights business of Zodiak Media, claims a catalogue of around 15,000 hours of content. Zodiak Rights specialises in worldwide television and home entertainment distribution and all aspects of licensing, with sales teams in London and Paris.
- Zodiak Southern Europe
Zodiak Southern Europe consists of five companies across Italy and Spain. It comprises the Magnolia companies (Magnolia Italy, and Magnolia Spain), as well as 2BCom in Italy.
- Zodiak UK, Belgium & Netherlands
Zodiak UK, Belgium & Netherlands is a division comprising 13 production companies in the three territories, UK, Belgium and Netherlands.
Its various units include among their production credits Being Human, Secret Millionaire, Extreme Fishing, Only Connect, Waybuloo, Dickinson's Real Deals, Rab C Nesbitt, Gadget Geeks, Help! My House is Falling Down, Show Me The Monet, Peking Express and Fort Boyard.
- Zodiak Vostok
Zodiak Vostok (Vostok meaning "east" in Russian) has three subsidiaries producing content for Russia's leading broadcasters.
- TeleAlliance produces factual entertainment formats and dramas.
- Mastiff Russia produces a range of international formats.
- Zodiak Active
Zodiak Active is dedicated to the creation, development and production of digital and branded content across all platforms and YouTube channels management.
References
- ^ "Banijay Zodiak Merger Completes". Banijay Press Release. February 2016.
- ^ a b "Content Production / Distribution". Gruppo de Agostini. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
- ^ Sweney, Mark "RDF Media sold to Zodiak Entertainment", The Guardian, Wednesday 2 June 2010. Retrieved on 27 November 2012.
- ^ http://kidscreen.com/2016/02/23/zodiak-and-banijay-finalize-merger/
- ^ AJ Marechal (January 11, 2012). "Zodiak streamlines in Western Hemisphere". Variety. Retrieved 7 December 2012.