Lionel Uzan to Lead Federation Studios as Pascal Breton Steps Back
Federation Studios is getting a new president, and its majority owner is changing. Lionel Uzan is taking over the top job, while Pascal Breton, who founded the company more than a decade ago, steps back from running it. The changes were reported by Deadline on 12 November 2026.
Breton will not leave the company. He is becoming chairman of the supervisory board, which is the body that oversees the company's management rather than running the day-to-day work. Uzan joined Federation in 2015.
The biggest structural change is ownership. Montefiore, which previously held a 33% stake, is becoming the majority shareholder. A majority shareholder owns more than half of a company's shares, which usually gives it the final say on major decisions. Montefiore will share its majority position with other financial shareholders.
The new setup will come through a capital increase. That means the company issues new shares and sells them to investors to raise money. Federation had been seeking a large cash injection for the past couple of years, according to the same report.
Uzan will not be working alone. He will be supported by an executive board made up of Éric Broet, Cosette Liebgott, Simona Rapino and Chiraz Zribi. An executive board is the group of senior managers who handle the company's running day to day.
The company also plans a change of focus. Federation will concentrate on its most promising markets and put more weight on scripted content, meaning shows written from a script, such as drama and comedy, rather than unscripted formats like reality and factual programmes.
For the crews and writers who work on Federation productions, the practical question is which projects get funded under the new plan. The announcement does not say which titles or markets will be affected first, so those details are still to come.
Financing has been the company's main concern in recent years, and the capital increase is the answer it has chosen. Breton's move to the supervisory board keeps his experience in the company, while Uzan takes charge of running it.
