Fremantle partners with Astral Projection

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A fruitful partnership

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Fremantle becomes the primary home for all TV and film projects from Astral Projection under a new first-look and development deal with the production company.

Astral Projection is the production company from Academy Award-winning actress Rachel Weisz and British executive producer Polly Stokes. Rachel has starred in films such as The Constant Gardener, Disobedience and The Favourite, while Polly has worked on productions such as American Honey, Wild Rose and The Nest.

The three-year partnership, spearheaded by Christian Vesper, will see Fremantle become the primary home for all of Astral Projection's TV and film projects, with Fremantle's Global Drama division and international distribution team closely involved. The deal also includes the joint development of TV and film projects.

Christian Vesper, CEO Global Drama at Fremantle, says: "We've been admirers of Polly and Rachel's careers for some time. The breadth, scale, and acclaim of their combined body of work across both television and film is truly impressive and I've no doubt this is going to be a fruitful and exciting partnership. I couldn't be happier to welcome them to the Fremantle family and start collaborating on world-class projects together."

Astral Projection's slate of productions includes Dead Ringers, a six-part psychological thriller for Amazon, in which Rachel Weisz plays both lead roles. Polly Stokes, a former Creative Executive at Film4, and Rachel Weisz have a long-standing relationship and are working on a variety of projects across TV and film.

Rachel Weisz, Executive Producer at Astral Projection, says: "We are thrilled to have found such experienced and trusting partners in Fremantle. As soon as we met Christian and Seb Shorr, we knew they were a perfect fit for our taste and energy and that this would be a brilliant home for Astral."

Polly Stokes, Executive Producer at Astral Projection, adds: "We want to tell stories that are surprising and affirming - that find joy in unexpected and daring places. We were immediately taken by Fremantle's reach, across film and TV, and their deep faith in exceptional talent. We can't wait to begin this chapter."

The partnership with Astral Projection is the latest creative collaboration announced by Fremantle. In February 2024, RTL Group's content powerhouse entered into a first-look deal with Me+You Productions, a UK-based production company founded by BAFTA- and Emmy-award-winning filmmakers Richard Yee and Krishnendu Majumdar. The deal was secured following a collaboration on original TV drama Alice & Jack, starring award-winning actors Andrea Riseborough and Domhnall Gleeson.

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RTL is Europe's leading entertainment brand standing for entertainment, independent journalism, inspiration, energy and attitude. With our TV channels, streaming services, radio stations and online platforms in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Hungary and Luxembourg, we reach millions of people across Europe every day. The RTL brand is owned by RTL Group.

About RTL Group

RTL Group is a leading entertainment company across broadcast, streaming, content and digital, with interests in 60 television channels, seven streaming services and 36 radio stations. The Group's families of TV channels are either number one or number two in six European countries, while RTL Group owns or has interests in radio stations in France, Germany, Spain and Luxembourg. RTL Deutschland is the Group's largest business unit and Germany's first cross-media champion, operating across TV, streaming, radio, digital and publishing. RTL Group's streaming services include RTL+ in Germany and Hungary, Videoland in the Netherlands and 6play in France. Fremantle is one of the world's largest creators, producers and distributors of scripted and unscripted content, responsible for more than 11,000 hours of programming per year, alongside an international network of teams operating in 27 countries. The streaming tech company Bedrock and the ad-tech company Smartclip are also owned by RTL Group. As a market leader, RTL Group strives to foster alliances and partnerships within the European media industry, for example by building a one-stop advertising sales house in Germany with Ad Alliance and driving international advertising sales with RTL AdAlliance. Bertelsmann is the majority shareholder of RTL Group, which is listed on the Luxembourg and Frankfurt stock exchanges and in the MDAX stock index.

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