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BYD, which recently surpassed Tesla as the world’s leading electric car supplier, is getting into the content business with Mediawan, the award-winning European studio behind “Adolescence,” “F1: The Movie” and “Miraculous.”
Financial details about their deal was not disclosed but it’s believed to be a significant cash investment from China’s BYD into Mediawan, whose portfolio spans over 80 companies, including Plan B, See-Saw Films and a stake in LuckyChap.
The pact was touted by both companies as an unprecedented strategic partnership to “support European and international creativity,” driven by shared values of innovation, sustainability, and global openness. They’re also interested in championing emerging talents. As such, they’re launching the “Build Your Dreams” Award, celebrating the best emerging creative and young talents over the next three years. The event, set to take place during the Cannes Film Festival, will give a €50,000 grant to the winner of the award.
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Mediawan will also collaborate with BYD on content in various ways, ranging from brand integration in select titles across Mediawan Group productions. This include featuring BYD vehicles in upcoming flagship projects, such as the recently announced “Miraculous” theatrical movie. Mediawan will also be producing original formats inspired by the BYD brand.
“This partnership with Mediawan marks a new chapter in BYD’s mission to connect innovation with inspiration. At BYD, we believe technology and creativity share the same purpose: to imagine a better world. By joining forces with one of Europe’s most visionary studios, we’re not just supporting the arts—we’re empowering the next generation of storytellers to dream beyond boundaries and share meaningful stories that move the world,” said Stella Li, vice president of BYD.
Mediawan’s boss Pierre-Antoine Capton, meanwhile, said “this partnership with BYD perfectly embodies our ambitions, to champion creative excellence and global growth, especially through the creation of strategic alliances that bring together creativity, innovation, and international vision.”
Capton – who was part of Variety’s 120 ranking of the world’s most powerful executives and co-founded Mediawan in 2015 with Xavier Niel and Mathieu Pigasse — argued that, “In today’s landscape, where demand for content is booming across every platform, increasingly involving brands as partners in our productions is becoming essential as it allows us to innovate at scale and invest in ambitious projects both locally and internationally.”
The financial and creative alliance with BYD illustrates a growing trend of consumer brands investing in the film and television business to ramp up their global presence in pop culture. For companies like Mediawan that have the ambition to produce upscale films and TV shows and are faced with limited resources from traditional outlets, having a partner like BYD represents a lucrative avenue and opens up perspectives.
Mediawan, whose output includes more than 400 titles produced each year across drama, unscripted, documentary, cinema and animated original content, is rolling off major hits, including Plan B’s “F1,” the multi-Emmy Award-winning series “Adolescence,” See-Saw Films’ “Slow Horses,” Jeremy Zag’s “Miraculous” and the popular series “Call My Agent!”