Binet and Dent to leave UGC DA International. Both senior sales executives at UGC DA International, Patrick Binet and Louisa Dent, are to leave the company under the new Canal+ DA ownership. Both were unavailable for comment at press time, but Binet's office confirmed that he was in discussion about his future at Canal+ DA.
Binet, Dent to exit UGC
Patrick Binet and Louisa Dent are understood to be leaving UGC DA International under the new Canal+ DA ownership. Although unavailable for comment at press time, Binet's office confirmed that he was in discussion about his future at Canal+ DA.
Since the merger between the two companies last July, rumours have been circulating regarding its implications. Apart from Binet and Dent, most of the sales team of UGC DA International would join Canal+ Distribution, handling library titles and/or Le Studio Canal+'s international sales arm responsible for fresh titles.
The structure needs a strong force to handle the +5,000 films/2,000 TV hours from UGC DA, plus the 650 films in the Canal+ DA catalogue.
Although he wouldn't comment on the rumours, Thierry Schluck, chief executive of Canal+ DA, and responsible for their integration, said: 'We are working on the establishment of a coherent structure that would integrate UGC DA and our activity, and an announcement will be made within the next couple of months.'
Given the size of Canal+'s back catalogues and the amount of digital channels in Europe, many co-managed by Canal+, one scenario could see it setting up joint operations in territories where it has launched digital platforms in order to manage sophisticated rights management on its titles.
Dent's departure puts into question the existence of UGC DA's London office, opened last November to develop, invest and acquire rights to English-language titles. Last year, the company pre-bought the rights to three English co-productions: The Gambler by Karoly Makk; My Son The Fanatic by Udayan Prasad, both in post-production, and Hard Men by JK Amalou, now ready for release.
But with the merger with Canal+ DA, the acquisition of new films by UGC could be redundant as Canal + already has its own network of producers offering some five to 10 new titles each year to increase the value of the library. Furthermore, Le Studio Canal+'s film division has its own London offices to develop English-language films: TOC set up with Telema's Charles Gassot, and The Bridge, a joint venture with Sony Pictures.
Binet and Dent will be at the AFM for UGC DA International, although it might be the last film market for the company. Annika Pham and John Hopewell
French pay TV operator Canal+ issued a convertible bond worth FFr2 billion (US$357.14 million), and simultaneously announced sales up by 14%. Reasons for the increase were a growth in rights sales and a good boost in subscriber figures.
Income from subscriptions rose 9% as viewing numbers grew from 4.3 to 4.4 million for Canal+ and from 306,000 to 446,000 for their Canal Satellite digital service. But the biggest increase came from the substantial income accrued from rights sales from the 5,000 films acquired in its 1996 takeover of UGC-DA's film catalogue. Recently, Canal+ took a stake in Silvio Berlusconi's Mediaset via a recent merger with Dutch pay-TV giant NetHold. The FFr2 billion bond will be of assistance in financing NetHold's acquisition of 6.6% of Mediaset. MD
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