Euromédia Television, the owner of studios from Nice, has acquired the Société Française de Production (French Production Company). This purchasing is an advantage for the cinematographic activity on the French Riviera.
The recent privatisation of the SFP (Socété Française de Production) should have relevant consequences on the French Riviera in general and more particularly on Riviera Studios in Nice. As Catherine Tasca, the secretary of communication and culture, said on Monday at the MIPCOM in Cannes, the company Euromédia Television has been selected for the purchasing. This company becomes thus the first French pole as far as audiovisual providing is concerned.
Vincent Bolloré in the French audiovisual scene
In this operation, medias have noticed one thing: through Euromédia, Vincent Bolloré is now in the French audiovisual scene. This very media entrepreneur, through Boloré Investissement, has taken over 30% of the SFP Holding shares. As a consequence, he will own 30% of Euromédia Télévision through an increase of capital.
However, Euromédia, created by Chantal and Jean-Pierre Barry in 1983, is also the company which took over the mythical Victorine Studios in Nice two years ago. Since then, those studios have been named Studios Riviera and, soon, they could come back to their original name (the city of Nice would have bought up the name from the former owner).
The volume of Euromédia doubles
What will change with the purchasing of the S.F.P.? “First, this is a broadening of the Euromédia group”, Jean-Pierre Barry, the CEO, says. “The volume of the group will double. We already own studios in the Plaine-Saint-Denis, in Arpajon and with the S.F.P. we will increase the synergy possibilities.”
“As well, we plan to set up a mobile tapping unit in Nice. This tapping unit is able to gather at least 20 image sources coming from 20 different cameras and to send them via the hertzian network or the satellite for a live or a pre-recorded broadcasting. Thus, we will work again marketing between Monaco and Montpellier and attack the market of congresses and sport events. Until now, we were unable to do it because we have no unit in Nice.”
Luc Besson recruits one thousand crowd artists
“As far as the renovation of studios in Nice is concerned, it advances quickly. We have renovated the whole electric network and fixed the roofs. The studios were crowded from January to late June. Moreover, the number of companies, welcomed over the seven hectares of the site, has increased from 20 to 33. Now, the Studios Riviera, included in a much bigger group with sharp marketing efforts, this is a new immediate change.”
Since the beginning of the week, a new big cinematographic shooting takes place in these studios. Luc Besson is casting for the shooting of “The Transporter”. He is searching for almost one thousand crowd artists to shoot in Nice from October 29th to November 20th. The cinema can also employs a lot of people…