Tag Archives: Federation Studios

Federation MEAC adapting Meyer novel

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Federation MEAC, the subsidiary of France’s Federation Studios focusing on the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean, has teamed up with South African crime author Deon Meyer to adapt his international bestseller Fever for television.

Deon Meyer

Fever is an epic post-apocalyptic survival novel that follows a young boy and his father through a desolate South Africa after a virus has killed off most of the world’s population. The story is primarily seen through the youngster’s eyes, as the pair try to build a new community from the ashes of the old one.

The adaptation is part of a three-project deal between Meyer’s South African production company Scene 23 and Federation MEAC. Further details of the other Scene 23 projects will be announced soon, said Federation MEAC.

The latter company has also unveiled two other new projects with other partners: A Girl to Marry and Harlem Hellfighters.

A Girl to Marry is a TV comedy series about mixed couples in France, co-developed and coproduced with Clémentine Vaudaux from Narcos prodco Gaumont and written by Lise Barembaum.

Harlem Hellfighters, meanwhile, is an animated documentary series directed by Sonia Rolland (An Unexpected Destiny) that tells the true story of the first African American battalion to fight on European soil during the First World War. The project is being written by Fadette Drouard (Papicha, The Sitting Duck, My Heroine) and Benjamin Hoffman (Spinners) for Canal+. It is coproduced with US producer Vic Bulluck (Judge Mathis, Windows on theWorld), SoMad Productions and French studio La Chouette Compagnie (Droners, Azuro & The Dragon’s Squad, Imago).

Federation MEAC said further announcements about its new productions would follow soon, including documentaries, an animated series with Ubisoft, two feature films for theatrical and platform releases and two more fiction series.

Meanwhile, the company is in production on the second season of Spinners, with head writers Sean Steinberg and Matthews Jankes in association with showrunner Benjamin Hoffman. The show is a coproduction between Federation MEAC and Natives at Large in South Africa for Canal+ and Showmax.

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Federation, Empreinte set up MEAC arm

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Paris-based Federation Studios and Empreinte Digitale have set up a production subsidiary for the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean led by Empreinte Digitale’s Joachim Landau.

Joachim Landau

Federation MEAC will look to work with and connect talent from the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean via productions and coproductions.

The Federation subsidiary’s co-founding chairman, Landau is a producer of documentaries, unscripted programming and series with Empreinte Digitale, which has been part of the Federation Studios group since 2017.

Lionel Uzan, MD of Federation Studios, and Raphaël Rocher, MD of Empreinte Digitale, will be on the board alongside Landau, who joined Empreinte Digitale in 2014 from the content division of Orange.

Landau co-created and is producing the South African series Spinners for Empreinte Digitale, which is filmed in Cape Town and coproduced by Natives at Large for Canal+ and Showmax.

He will be assisted at Federation MEAC by producer Manuela Cassuto, who will serve as head of development in charge of sourcing projects and taking them into production.

Federation MEAC has around 15 projects in development according to its parent company, spanning mainstream feature films, documentaries, scripted series in genres such as rom com, thriller and action.

“The audiovisual market in the Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean is expanding fast, with a plethora of excellent writers, directors, actors and producers,” said Landau.

“Their inventiveness and energy reflects that of Federation so much so that we just had to be present in these markets. We aim to help them grow internationally and to create synergies with our group, by sharing formats, for example.”

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