European production and distribution giant Banijay is giving up its interest in US prodco Stephen David Entertainment (SDE) to allow The World Wars producer to pursue new projects independently.The move comes a decade after Banijay acquired a controlling interest in the New York-based company, which specialises in hybrid scripted docuseries such as The Men Who Built America, for History, as well as historical, crime and social justice factual titles like Sugartown, for ID Films.That 2015 deal, rumoured at the time to be worth around US$35m, saw Banijay acquire a 60% stake, boosting its library of ready-made original series.The acquisition was a strategic bid to increase Banijay’s presence in the US marketplace and came nine months after the group brought in David Goldberg to launch Banijay Studios North America.At the time, Goldberg said: “This move complements our existing business and strengthens Banijay’s ability to break new creative ground in North America. We believe there is a great deal of opportunity for growth of the non-scripted and scripted documentary genres. We will also look to SDE to contribute to the development of the Banijay-scripted activity that is a main objective of our US strategy.”Although primarily known for factual content, SDE has also produced scripted programming such as James Patterson’s Murder is Forever, for ID, and the Josh Duhamel-fronted Capsized, for Discovery.After 10 years of collaboration, however, Banijay and SDE are now set to go their separate ways, though they may work together on select projects in the future.A statement from Banijay said: “After a long and productive partnership with Stephen David, Banijay exits Stephen David Entertainment and Stephen David is pursuing new creative opportunities independently. Meanwhile, Banijay continues to work with him, supporting the titles and IP developed during their collaboration.”
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