The Creatives, a group of Europe’s top production houses that began as a monthly gathering of producers in 2021, has changed from a club into a company. It is now a jointly owned holding structure. Anton Studios is joining as a partner and minority investor, which gives The Creatives a new financial base and a formal identity.
The newly structured group keeps Romain Bessi at its helm as CEO. That arrangement makes The Creatives the first European-rooted producer-owned group of its scale in film and television. Years of informal meetings and joint productions among the group’s founding companies preceded the consolidation.
The Companies Behind The Creatives
The group’s membership covers seven countries: France, Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, and Israel. Here is the list of the people who started it.
- Haut et Court and Unité in France
- Komplizen and Razor Film in Germany
- the U.K.’s Good Chaos
- Lemming Film in the Netherlands and Belgium
- Maipo Film in Norway
- Spiro in Israel
- Masha in the U.S.
Anton is led by Sébastien Raybaud, who has overseen a slate of films including the drama “In Love,” which starred George Clooney and Annette Bening; the series “Pumping Black,” with Jonathan Bailey and Natalie Portman; and the crime thriller “My Darling California,” featuring Jessica Chastain, Chris Evans, Chris Pine, Mikey Madison and Don Cheadle.
How The Club Became A Company
According to Bessi, the group’s beginnings were straightforward. He told Variety that five years ago, all of the producers reached a decision: no one would be allowed to buy them out. Rather, they chose to pool their knowledge and connections instead.
“They decided that, because it was working so well, they would become a group,” Bessi said. “But they didn’t know how to do it.”
For more than a year and a half, he served as the structural architect, shaping the group and searching for an investor to fund the holding company. The hunt for Anton stretched across over a year, during which time several other offers were also put forward.
Why Anton Won The Search
The producers insisted on particular conditions from their financial partner. A European investor was required, both for reputation and for compliance with rules. The producers also wanted someone with real experience of the business — the kind where good years alternate with bad ones, and taking on risk is necessary.
“It’s very unique. Usually, you have one person or company who gets the shares and the control,” Bessi said. “Because of that, some investors were a bit concerned about the governance of the group.”
A minority stake without distribution rights was what the group sought from an investor. Valuation was important as well, and the producers wanted their own assessment to be respected. They also wanted someone familiar to them. Bessi knew Anton well, since it was founded 15 years ago to put into effect a state financing arrangement for Studiocanal, where Bessi served as CEO at the time.
What The New Structure Delivers
All 17 producers in the group are shareholders and control the company. The holding structure means The Creatives operates as a consolidated entity while retaining the independence of its constituent companies.
Bessi sees the group as a European leader in “one-stop-shop” production for major distributors and streamers, and he views it as the place where those companies can access “elevated content and festival movies and series.”.
“When they come to us, they suddenly have access to many talents, many projects out of many European countries,” he said. “It offers a wide diversity of very good foreign content. We have the scale of the group now. It’s strong enough and financially reliable, so it can be a very interesting one-stop shop for major companies instead of them going country by country to work with these leading producers.”
The Portfolio Of The Creatives
The group’s work has earned more than 140 awards at major festivals and ceremonies around the world, including a Cannes Palme d’Or and a Venice Grand Jury Prize. It also boasts multiple Academy Award nominations and wins.
The signature lead-produced titles include:
- Komplizen’s Oscar-nominated “Toni Erdmann”
- Haut et Court’s Palme d’Or winner “The Class”
- Good Chaos’ “Sisu” films, which both topped global streaming charts
- Spiro’s Venice Grand Jury Prize winner “Foxtrot”
- Razor Film’s Oscar-nominated “Waltz With Bashir”
- Maipo Film’s Canneseries winner “A Better Man”
- Unité’s multi-César winner “Souleymane’s Story”
- Masha’s hit series “False Flag”
- Lemming Film’s six-time Dutch Academy Award winner “Sweet Dreams”
The Road To Closing
A few months of technical steps remain before the Creatives are formally created at closing. Bessi described the current status as “ready to go,” which indicates that the group’s vision has become possible to achieve.
“Our goal is to accelerate and enhance the model so we can allow the producers to develop the project they want to develop, be ready, take more risks, gather the best talent and use each other’s connections,” he said. “We want these people to do what they do best: to produce and attract talent.”
| Producer | Home Country | Notable Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Haut et Court | France | “The Class” (Palme d’Or) |
| Komplizen | Germany | “Toni Erdmann” (Oscar-nominated) |
| Unité | France | “Souleymane’s Story” (multi-César) |
| Good Chaos | U.K. | “Sisu” (streaming chart-topper) |
| Lemming Film | Netherlands/Belgium | “Sweet Dreams” (six-time Dutch Academy Award) |
| Maipo Film | Norway | “A Better Man” (Canneseries winner) |
| Spiro | Israel | “Foxtrot” (Venice Grand Jury Prize) |
| Masha | U.S. | “False Flag” |
A Model Built By Producers
What makes The Creatives stand apart is its producer-led setup. In most holding structures, an outside investor takes charge instead. The group’s governance structure, which gives all 17 producers both shares and control of the company, shows how it differs from that approach.
Bessi’s own background matches the group’s approach. He built two international studios in Newen Studios/Studio TF1, which he led as chairman and CEO within the TF1 Group until 2024, and Studiocanal, where he served as group COO. Prior to that, he served as CFO for the Canal+ channels in France and CEO for Canal+ in the Nordics.
So far, the group has built a strong record. Its portfolio covers Academy Award nominees, Cannes winners, streaming hits and festival prizes across nine countries.
Five years of testing have shown that The Creatives’ approach delivers results. The company is now wagering that adding a firmer framework around its operations will improve performance even further.
Source material: “Producer-Led The Creatives Enters Jointly Owned Holding Structure as Anton Studios Joins as Partner and Minority Investor (EXCLUSIVE),” Variety.
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