Anna Marsh, StudioCanal CEO, says the group is looking to expand in Africa with a focus on English-speaking countries. Canal+, which has had a strong presence in French-speaking Africa for decades, currently owns a 45.2% stake in the continent’s leading platform MultiChoice. “There are ongoing discussions to increase our ownership in that company,” she says.
Presently, Canal+ Group’s pay-TV platform operates in 52 countries, with more than 26.4 million subscribers, of which two-thirds are from outside of France. Adding MultiChoice’s nearly 16 million (mostly English-speaking) subscribers, would mean the multi-billion acquisition would place the French company among the top five biggest entertainment companies in the world and the biggest outside of the U.S.
“It’s an incredible opportunity, not only for the Canal+, but also for Studiocanal when it comes to our growth and production strategy,” says Marsh. “Just being able to tap into that incredible English-speaking subscriber base really opens things up.”
She stresses that “investing in local content is really important” to the group, noting that the move will allow them to tap into South Africa’s local industry. Canal+ and MultiChoice co-produced TV series Spinners, which Studiocanal distributed around the world. The company also recently shot John Patton Ford’s revenge thriller Huntington, starring Glen Powell, Ed Harris and Margaret Qualley, on location in South Africa, using local crew and tapping into the nation’s 25% plus tax incentive.
There are plans to make “many more projects” in the country, says Marsh, and the company is already in development on “one massive South African story” which it is making as a feature film and will announce soon.
Canal+ has also been aggressively investing in Southeast Asian streamer Viu, where it owns a 36.8% stake, and also has a 29.3% stake in Swedish streamer Viaplay.
There are also plans to move more into the elevated genre space. Last year, the company tapped Jed Benedict to head up new in-house genre label Sixth Dimension. Reporting to Studiocanal EVP of Global Production Ron Halpern, Benedict will look to identify high concept horror, thriller and science fiction films that the group can develop, produce, acquire and distribute. The label recently announced its first title, a reboot of 1984 slasher Silent Night, Deadly Night, which the company will distribute in its own territories and shop to buyers at EFM.
In addition to Benedict, Studiocanal made a number of key hires in 2024, including M-K Kennedy as Executive Managing Director for Worldwide TV Series and Isabelle Pain as Head of Global Acquisitions and Analytics. Anne Chérel was promoted to Chief Commercial Officer while Chloé Marquet was promoted to Head of International Sales for Films and TV series and Françoise Guyonnet was upped to CEO of Studiocanal Kids and Family
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