EXCLUSIVE: Thierry Lachkar, the CEO of ITV Studios France, has added Profilage producer Tetra Media Studio to his roster following the departures of Jean-François Boyer and Sébastien Borivent.
Lachkar will oversee the day-to-day at the vet French drama indie, which has a number of scripted labels and was acquired by ITV Studios seven years ago. ITV Studios France COO Céline Roux is simultaneously expanding her responsibilities to cover Tetra.
Le Figaro revealed late last week that Boyer and Borivent are exiting after two decades at the helm of the company responsible for some of France’s biggest TV dramas down the years. The pair resigned in July and Borivent will remain in post until the end of this year to oversee a transition.
Tetra works with the likes of TF1, Prime Video, Netflix, M6, France Télévisions, Canal+ and Arte. Past hits include TF1’s Profilage, which ran for over a decade, and France 2’s Les Hommes de l’ombre. Upcoming shows include Anaon for Prime Video and France Télévisions, and 37 Secondes for Arte.
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Since former Shine France boss Lachkar moved to ITV in 2021, he has “continued to strengthen our business in France, accelerating the growth of ITV Studios,” according to International Production MD Lisa Perrin. She said he will “bring all his energy and expertise to this expanded role.”
Lachkar added: “With Céline at my side, I’m convinced that we’ll open up new prospects for the development of the whole group.”
Drama strategy
Speaking to Deadline several months back at an ITV Studios press event, Lachkar made no bones of his desire to expand ITV Studios France’s repertoire and push further into scripted.
At the time he communicated ambitions to set up a drama department and talked up the opportunity to work with ITV Studios stablemates, especially in the UK, in order to remake older scripted formats. At Shine, he worked on international co-pro The Tunnel, which was a remake of The Bridge for Sky and Canal+. For example, Lachkar said shows that have performed well on UK commercial net ITV could work on France’s TF1, as the pair tend to seek similar fare.
“This goes with the mentality of the French market right now,” he said back in February. “We will be trying to push formats with an existing track record because you have to be in line with what the broadcasters are looking for – especially if you are a newcomer – but hopefully within time we will look for new ideas.”
Since taking over, Lachkar said ITV Studios France has rapidly expanded cross-genre production by hiring more staff and freelancers. “It was a challenge but collectively it was well managed by all of us,” he said.
ITV Studios France still produces mainstays The Voice France and Four Weddings, while making newer shows such as France’s version of Destination X, which is soon to launch UK and U.S. versions.
The company is “working to come up with more brands” and thinking about documentary expansion, Lachkar added.
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