A Bristol TV production company has been acquired by a French media giant for an undisclosed sum.
Wildseed Studios has made programmes for major networks and streaming platforms, such as The Last Bus on Netflix and the animated series Dodo , which has appeared on Sky Kids, CITV, Cartoon Network and HBO Max.
The children’s television arm of European studio Mediawan has now taken a majority stake in the business, in what is the division’s first international acquisition.
Wildseed was formed a decade ago by Miles Bullough, the former head of broadcast at Wallace and Gromit creators Aardaman, and Jesse Cleverly, the former head of co-productions and acquisitions at BBC Children’s.
The BAFTA award-winning company, based in St Nicholas House near Castle Park, has gone on to have both animated and live action shows distributed around the world on Disney, Sky, and BBC. The company shot The Last Bus at The Bottle Yard film and television studios in south Bristol.
Following the deal, Wildseed will continue to develop its own content and also partner with Mediawan’s studios in Europe to bring new co-productions to the market.
Mr Cleverly, Wildseed’s creative director, said: “With Mediawan’s support, we look forward to discovering more award-winning creators and their original properties, producing more world-class content for audiences below 30 and growing Wildseed within the Mediawan group.
“One of the attractions of Mediawan for us was the ability to continue to drive our own diverse slate of shows, as well as working with other studios in the group to develop co-productions with a truly international focus.”
Julien Borde, president of Mediawan Kids & Family, added: “Wildseed is a renowned and well-established UK producer with a strong network of international talent and partners.
“They have a unique take on innovation and a real know-how on talent incubation. We are thrilled to start working with them to allow new talent to bring new stories and universes to kids, young adults and families.”
Bristol is renowned for being a hot-bed for TV and film production, with the city also the home of Aardaman and A Productions, which worked on CBeebies pre-school series JoJo and Gran Gran, and was itself bought by Paris-based production company Cyber Group Studios last year.
Wildseed’s managing director Mr Bullough recently told BusinessLive that Brexit “has not helped” an industry-wide issue of recruitment, saying it was now “almost impossible” to hire staff from France - highly regarded within the industry for the talented graduates that emerge from its animation schools.
Read next:
- Bristol’s animation and TV production sector - a close up
- Lewis Capaldi and Good Morning Britain video director hired by Gloucestershire firm
- Cornwall's TV and film industry a 'cluster of national significance’, report concludes
- BT moves staff into new Bristol office and prepares to create 170 jobs
Like this story? Why not sign up to get the latest South West business news straight to your inbox.
