Campaign Profile

Claire Jago wants Banijay Rights to be a one-stop-shop for buyers heading to Cannes in October. Here, the company’s EMEA sales chief explains how she plans to do it.

The content business has had its challenges in recent times but Banijay Rights, the global distribution arm of content powerhouse Banijay Entertainment, is heading to Mipcom with an eye-catching slate of new and returning scripted and non-scripted series.

Key titles for Mipcom include Half Man from Richard Gadd, the creator of Baby Reindeer, and Mam Tor Productions, and from The Forge comes a reimagination of Barbara Taylor Bradford’s epic novel A Woman of Substance. On the factual slate is the documentary special Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne: Coming Home, coming soon after the rock icon’s death.

Claire Jago, exec VP of sales and acquisitions for EMEA at Banijay Rights, says it’s exciting to see so many great projects coming to fruition at this key time in the distribution calendar: “We introduced a number of these projects at the London TV Screenings in February and now we’re heading to Mipcom with finished product for our partners to see.”

Gadd’s new project, for the BBC and HBO, is a 6×60’ series that stars Gadd and Jamie Bell as estranged brothers. Spanning almost 40 years from the 1980s to the present day, the show is “an incredible piece of drama that explores concepts around toxic masculinity between the two ‘brothers’ played brilliantly by Gadd and Bell,” Jago says.

Meanwhile, A Woman of Substance is an 8×60’ drama that tells the iconic story of a housemaid-turned-mogul Emma Harte who refused to ‘know her place’. The novel on which the series is based is a bestseller and buyers will be intrigued to see the lead role played by Brenda Blethyn (Vera, Pride & Prejudice). “There are a lot of eyes on Brenda playing this role,” says Jago. “She’s a fabulous actor and well-known to buyers because of Vera.”

Another new drama from The Forge is Falling, scripted by Jack Thorne, whose drama Adolescence caught the cultural zeitgeist just as much as Gadd’s Baby Reindeer. Jago says Falling is a witty, moving, contemporary romantic drama that focuses on Keeley Hawes as a devoted nun and Paapa Essiedu as a Catholic priest. “When I first read the script, I was astonished by this gentle and beautiful story, which is so sensitive on the subject of love.” The show is produced by The Forge, a Banijay UK company, for Channel 4.

Elsewhere, Banijay’s Swedish subsidiary Yellow Bird is remaking Wallander (3×90’) with Gustaf Skarsgård (Oppenheimer, Vikings) in the lead role. Meanwhile, Playground has produced the first contemporary television adaptation of Georges Simenon’s beloved novels about Parisian chief inspector Jules Maigret. Starring Benjamin Wainwright, this adaption reframes Maigret as an unconventional young Parisian detective with something to prove. “What’s really exciting for us is that Simenon’s family sanctioned this new version. It’s almost a decade since Rowan Atkinson played Maigret and this is quite a change of direction,” Jago says.

Alongside the Swedish reboot of Wallander, other non-UK-originated dramas on the slate include comedy drama These Sacred Vows (Treasure Entertainment for Ireland’s RTÉ); romantic dramedy Two Years Later (Hoodlum for Paramount+ Australia); and Disenchanted (Banijay Studios France for France TV). Adapted from Marie Vareille’s novel Désenchantées, the latter follows the disappearance of a 15-year-old girl.

Another key part of the slate, adds Jago, is returning scripted series “because buyers come to them in the knowledge they have already built an audience”. Season three of Steven Knight’s Rogue Heroes moves to 1944 France, while there is also a new run for the contemporary reboot of Bergerac. Also back are The Hardacres, Signora Volpe and Anonymous. The latter – produced by NL Film for public broadcaster NPO – follows a husband-and-wife vigilante team based in Dutch city Rotterdam.

It’s a broad line-up, which Jago says is an asset when sitting down with clients: “We’ve got period, crime, adaptations, originals and different languages so it’s impossible to generalise – except to say they are all examples of great storytelling that we are very passionate about within Banijay Rights. It’s still important to have known talent and IP attached, but with the way audiences discover content these days it’s quality storytelling that really determines whether a show has longevity.”

Jago’s factual slate is equally eclectic. It is led by the Sharon & Ozzy Osbourne special, which she describes as “a really emotional piece about Ozzy and his family moving back to England. It’s loving, honest and resonates because the access is so amazing. For us, it’s the perfect title because it sits alongside all the classic Osbourne series, which are enjoying a lot of interest across a range of platforms including FAST.”

Jago also anticipates strong buyer interest in Wild Reckoning with Bear Grylls, which sees adventurer Bear Grylls and experts help people resolve personal rifts in the Welsh wilderness; and Eva Longoria: Searching for France – which follows her Searching for Mexico and Searching for Spain projects. “Eva is so emotionally invested in making this work and her enthusiasm spills over into how the show feels,” she says.

The pursuit of young audiences has also led Banijay Rights in the direction of Mission to Space With Francis Bourgeois, a quirky two-parter about a social media star who goes behind the scenes at leading space agencies. “Francois is a model and a trainspotter who has built up a huge social following,” says Jago. “He always wanted to be an astronaut, so this documentary explores that dream. He is so cute and passionate and awkwardly enthusiastic that the result is both touching and laugh-out-loud.”

The factual slate is rounded out by another hard-hitting production, Silence of the Earth from Spain’s Diagonal TV. This is a feature-length documentary that explores the stories of environmental activists killed while defending the planet from environmental destruction and corporate greed.

“We have something for everyone,” says Jago. “You can have escapism in drama and entertainment shows, while our factual slate sees current topics resonate with all ages being presented to audiences.”

In terms of wider industry themes, Jago says Banijay Rights is putting a lot of effort into being a one-stop shop for clients. “My first question is always what can we do to help you? And that isn’t just in relation to our shows. We’re a 360-degree company, so we’re also looking to support our partners across areas like brand licensing, sponsorship, digital and gaming. Ultimately, our goal is to find ways that both our company and our clients can grow and develop together.”