Arthur Essebag’s Unscripted Banner Satisfaction Forms Joint Venture With James Corden’s Fulwell 73, Eyes U.S. Opportunities (EXCLUSIVE)
One of France’s most beloved and long-running TV hosts, Arthur Essebag, is preparing to take his leading unscripted production banner Satisfaction into English-language markets with top partners, ranging from James Corden, Leo Pearlman, Ben Winston, Benjamin, Gabriel Turner, Richard Bacon to Elisabeth Murdoch.
A few days after announcing its stake in Yes Yes Media, the buzzed-about company founded by Richard Bacon alongside Elisabeth Murdoch’s Sister Media, Satisfaction has formed a joint venture with Fulwell 73, the U.K.-based production company behind “The Late Late Show With James Corden.” The London-based outfit was founded in 2005 by Winston, Pearlman and Benjamin and Gabriel Turner. Corden was appointed a director in the company in 2017. Although the banner is headquartered in the U.K., as much as 70% of its turnover in 2020 came from the U.S. where Winston has produced the Grammy Awards, among other shows.
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The joint venture between Satisfaction and Fulwell 73 is not a capital deal but rather a creative alliance focusing on production and content creation, Essebag told Variety during an interview in Cannes during MipTV. The two companies previously teamed on “Visual Suspect,” a hit French adaptation of a popular “Late Late Show” segment. “We’ve discovered that we have a very similar DNA with Fulwell 73 and can tap into our respective market expertise and put our minds together to create fun and innovative content,” he continues.
The pact also underscores the high commercial prospects for premium unscripted content in today’s landscape, which Essebag had anticipated.
The 13-year-old company, which produces over 1000 hours of TV content every year through its different labels across 30 territories (including France, Germany and Spain) already ranks as a leading purveyor of quality unscripted programs in its home market. The banner previously acquired the French operations of Sony Pictures Television and has produced the local version of “Who Wants to Be A Millionaire,” among other well-known formats; and it sealed a strategic partnership with Talpa Netherlands with which it recently produced the quiz show “The Floor” whose daily and primetime versions were acquired by French pubcaster France Télévisions.
The joint venture with Fulwell is “just the beginning” of a new international strategy for Satisfaction. “We have three more joint ventures to announce in France, and we’re then going to announce some news regarding Southern Europe and slightly later in the U.S.,” says Essebag, who is targeting fast growth in the next 36 months.
He says the company has an attractive profile for content creators and producers because it still operates as a “boutique” banner. “We’re very quick, agile and connected in France which is a big bonus for many companies which don’t know how to produce content in France and find a local commissioner for their formats,” the executive continued, adding that Satisfaction has “become a major hub for foreign producers and U.S. creatives who are not affiliated with big groups.”
Essebag cited “Love Trip Paris,” a dating series following four American single women who move into a penthouse in the middle of Paris to find the right one. Satisfaction created the French format with FOX Alternative Entertainment for DisneyTV, Freeform and Hulu which just launched “Love Trip Paris” last month. A second season is in discussions. Satisfaction also produced “Stars à Nus,” a French adaptation of British format “The All New Monty.”
He says the market concentration has made it difficult for independent producers to bid against big corporations. But he argues that buying a format is one thing and making sure it lands on a TV channel is another. “When we acquire a format, we can almost guarantee it will be airing on TV,” Essebag said.
The sudden surge in interest for unscripted content comes from the fact that TV channels have opened up more and more slots dedicated to those factual programs, observes Essebag. Streamers have also joined the bandwagon, for instance Prime Video whose hit series “LOL” has been adapted around the world.
“When streaming services launched, everyone started splurging on scripted series while we kept investing in unscripted which proved to be the right thing to do because the market for scripted is drying out,” noted Essebag.
“At terms, the largest groups are going to keep all their series for themselves and we’re already seeing a dearth of new U.S. shows which used to inundate our TV screens,” Essebag continues.
Indeed, primetime slots that were previously allocated to U.S. series are now often filled by unscripted titles. The demand is booming because it’s “quick to make and cheaper” than fiction, and “draws huge ratings” — and also because these programs can have a “second life” on digital outlets.
“When you have a factual show, you can slice it into 12 segments of five minutes and launch it on social networks, and that produces extra revenue streams,” he says. Satisfaction now boasts a fully staffed digital unit to tap into these new digital opportunities, while it keeps its focus on finding unscripted gems from across the globe.
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