Italian
David Davoli, president of international at Anonymous Content, said the company is exploring new partnerships in Germany and Italy.
It would mark the seventh joint venture for Anonymous, which already has partnerships with companies in Brazil, Spain, France, the Nordics and the U.K. In October Variety exclusively revealed they had struck a deal for their latest joint venture in Australia and New Zealand with Brouhaha Entertainment, the production banner behind “Boy Swallows Universe,”
Davoli confirmed Anonymous’s expansion plans at U.K. television conference Content London on Tuesday afternoon, where he was joined by the heads of some of those joint companies: Anonymous Content Nordics CEO Guri Neby, Anonymous Content Brazil CEO Barbara Teixeira, Anonymous Content Spain CEO Beatriz Campos, Anonymous Federation managing director Rosalie Cimino and AC Chapter One managing director Patrick Spence.
For Anonymous, Davoli explained, the aim is to enter local markets with a knowledgeable partner and provide them with a range of support, from financial and editorial to IP opportunities and distribution. “[We’re] partnering with best in class producers, production companies, filmmakers, sometimes agencies or other times partners in the local territories,” Davoli said. “So we’re not coming in [and being] perceived as sharp-elbowed Americans.” Each local joint venture remains “really autonomous… Each have their own teams on the ground in the territory managing the day to day, selecting the content. We really just try and be supportive.”
Popular on Variety With a network of partners across the globe, the upside is also exponential in terms of sharing know-how and exchanging ideas. One example is an (unnamed) series produced by Anonymous Content Nordics which then sold the format rights to Anonymous’s U.K. subsidiary, Chapter One. Chapter One boss Patrick Spence also revealed during the panel that they are currently pursuing an opportunity in Australia as a result of the recent addition of Brouhaha to the Anonymous Content stable.
Despite the mutually-beneficial upsides of international partnerships, Davoli said that, partly due to the global economy, the production and management company had deliberately slowed down plans to replicate its business strategy across an increasing number of territories. “We’re growing slower and more internationally and it’s really got to be the right partnership,” he said.
When selecting the right partner Anonymous looks for a specific range of attributes, including being auteur-led, having “the same bar editorially” and being a robust player in an already-established market. “Partnerships are like marriages,” Davoli said. “It’s easy to be like ‘Let’s just go do it’ but the practical side is not always easy.”
Anonymous was founded in 1999 by producer Steve Golin, who died in 2019. It is now led by former HBO drama head David Levine, who was in the audience at the Content London panel on Tuesday.
