HBO boards BBC Tudor drama 1536 as US returns to co-productions
American buyers are back in the market for shared drama after almost three years away.
That was the message from Elisabeth D'Arvieu, Global Content Officer at Mediawan and chief executive of Mediawan Pictures, on 30 September 2026. She said the United States market for co-productions, meaning series paid for jointly by partners in different countries, was almost closed for the past two or three years. Now it is reopening, Deadline.
Her proof point was 1536. The series is a period drama set in Tudor England from Drama Republic, one of Mediawan's British production labels, meaning production companies. It was developed for the BBC in Britain, with HBO boarding in America to complete the picture.
The financing was split between the two broadcasters. The BBC covers Britain. HBO covers the US. That structure allowed the show to get made.
That deal made the programme possible. One budget alone could not carry it. Two could.
Mediawan sits behind that deal. The group is home to three British labels: See-Saw, Drama Republic and Wild Seed. It also holds a majority stake in Plan B, the American company linked to Brad Pitt. See-Saw joined the group earlier in September, Deadline.
The group is large. It brings together more than 85 film and television labels in 14 countries, including Plan B in the US, according to an account of its strategy published in 2025, Screen Daily. It was founded in France at the end of 2015 by Pierre-Antoine Capton, Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse, and is led by Capton. It operates in 14 countries across Europe, Africa, America and Asia, with work spanning production, distribution, broadcasting and diversification, Mediawan.
The US has been a target for some time. Mediawan has been developing an American remake of Weekend Rebels, the German hit, a project first disclosed in 2024.
Beyond British drama, the group has pushed into fresh ventures. LuckyChap International, its London-based joint venture for film and television with LuckyChap, is to be led by Mona Qureshi and Tanya Qureshi. Its sport operation has teamed with Goodfellas on ROUND 12, a label to co-produce, co-develop and co-market fiction and documentary centred on sport. It also created the Build Your Dream Award with BYD to spotlight first features by emerging film-makers, first won by Honeymoon directed by Zhanna Ozirna.
For viewers, this matters in a simple way. A co-production keeps a big show alive. Writers can finish the story. A crew of more than a hundred can stay in work. A listing appears where there was a gap.
D'Arvieu is due to discuss the strategy further as a speaker at the 10th Zurich Summit. Organisers have also booked speakers from TikTok and YouTube for the event, Deadline.
