Fifth Season-Backed The Story Collective Invests In ‘The Mallorca Files’ Producer Cosmopolitan
deadline.comEXCLUSIVE: Fifth Season-backed The Story Collective (TSC) has taken a 25% stake in The Mallorca Files co-producer Cosmopolitan Pictures, which has ambitions to be a “European hub” for projects that can traverse borders, its boss has said.
Cosmopolitan is run by Ben Donald, a former colleague of TSC founders Damian Keogh, Simon Vaughan and Helen Jackson from their BBC Studios tenure, and has quietly made a name for itself in recent years backing drama projects that punch above their weight across Europe.
It is probably best known for The Mallorca Files, which it makes with Baby Reindeer producer Clerkenwell Films and is about to launch its third season on Prime Video, along with Rai’s Per Elisa: il Caso Claps,which scooped the grand prize at the recent AVPSummit.
The company has projects in development with French, German, Italian and Scandinavian buyers, and is developing a pair of series in France based on Vanity Fair articles. “The idea is to be a bit of a European hub,” said Donald. “We have projects in various stages of development but it’s safe to say I had put that instinct on hold over the last few years because I needed to find someone from the outside to tell me to believe in them.” The TSC deal sees Fifth Season become Cosmopolitan’s first look distributor, although BBC Studios retains an interest in some titles including The Mallorca Files.
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