Média-Participations (French pronunciation: [medja paʁtisipasjɔ̃]) is a French/Belgian publishing and media entertainment comconglomerate that specialized in publishing comics, magazines, literature, audiovisual production and video game publishing. They have a strong presence in the comic book publishing and entertainment industries with a focus on publishing, entertainment production and game development. It was founded in September 1986 by former business lawyer and former politician Rémy Montagne and they own forty publishing houses in its portfolio, including Dupuis, Dargaud, Le Lombard, Fleurus, La Martinière, and Abrams.
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Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing Entertainment |
| Founded | September 20, 1986 |
| Founder | Rémy Montagne |
| Headquarters | , France |
Key people |
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| Revenue | €302 million (2007) |
Number of employees | 900 (2009) |
| Divisions | |
| Subsidiaries |
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| Website | www |
The entertainment & publishing group comprises more than 65 publishing & audiovisual companies, with a turnover of €700 million in 2024.[1]
History
editMédia-Participations was created in 1986 by Rémy Montagne, a politician who had been a member of the French Parliament for three decades before starting in the publishing business. After his death in 1991, he was succeeded by his son Vincent. The company was first called Ampère and focused on the acquisition of a number of struggling Christian publishing houses like Fleurus. In 1986, the group changed its name to Média-Participations and focused more on Franco-Belgian comics, which started when they acquired Le Lombard in 1986 and Dargaud in 1988.
In June 1997, Média-Participations alongside its publishing house Dargaud announced that they've acquired French animation and production company Marina Productions which was founded by Claude Berthier expanding Dargaud's animation output and Média-Participations' production activities with Marina Productions being placed under Dargaud's film & television production division Dargaud Films thrus becoming Dargaud's own animation subsidiary within Dargaud Films.[2]
At the start of September 2001, Média-Participations had brought Paris-based publishing company that specializing in historical and thematic works, Éditions Chronique (a publishing company founded in 1981 by Jacques Legrand), alongside its assets, with its unit being folded into Média-Participations' in-house publishing subsidiary Dargaud.[3][4]
One year later in 2002, Média-Participations had acquired Storimages, an animation production studio formed in on 1 September 1995 by Odile Limousin and Sylvie Martin, the acquisition of Storimages had further increased Média-Participations' animation production portfolio with Storimages being placed under Dargaud's animation production unit Dargaud Marina while Storimages' co-founders Odile Limousin and Sylvie Martin continued leading the studio.[5][4]
In July 2003, Média-Participations alongside their publishing house Dargaud announced they had acquired Paris-based French animation production studio Ellipsanime from its previous parent company Canal+ through their division StudioExpand, the acquisition of Ellipsanime gave both Média-Participations and its publishing house Dargaud another animation production studio with its publishing group Dargaud assuming all ownership of Ellipsanime's production activities with Ellipsanime's animated programming portfolio joining Dargaud's own largest animation production studio Dargaud Marina while Ellipsanime was placed under Dargaud Marina with their distribution division Dargaud Distribution taking over Ellipsanime's programming library and its future projects.[6][7]
In late June 2004, Média-Participations' animation production activities were strengthened when they acquired Belgian publishing house and Dargaud & Le Lombard's former rival publisher Dupuis alongside their Belgian/French audiovisuel production division Dupuis Audiovisuel (now Dupuis Edition & Audiovisuel) and animation studio Belvision for €300 million, expanded both Média-Participations' publishing & animation production activities and reunited their publishing company Le Lombard with Dupuis. The acquisition also gave them two more animation production studios with Dupuis Audiovisual's distribution business being folded into Dargaud Distribution.[8] In 2008 four years after Média-Participations failed a bid to acquire Editis, they renewed its bid on Editis, now for more than €1 billion.[9]
The publisher is now the third largest publisher of France, and the major Franco-Belgian comics publisher.[10] Of the 32 million books published a year, 20 million are comics. Magazine sales also reach 30 million copies a year. The group publishes around 600 publications a year, some 13% of the total number of Franco-Belgian comics, but these represent almost a third of the sales of comics in France.[11]
On January 31, 2007, Média-Participations announced the launch of a management and distribution subsidiary dedicated to overseeing all of publishing and animation production activities called Mediatoon who will bring all of Média-Participations' publishing and production activities under one roof, Dargaud Distribution the distribution division of Dargaud's production outfit Dargaud Marina who distributed Média-Participation' animated production catalogues was moved from Dargaud Marina and was placed under the new subsidiary Mediatoon, giving them an international distribution division and had it renamed to Mediatoon Distribution with Marie-Pierre Moulinjeune leading the rebranded distribution division whilst continued handling distribution to Média-Participations' programming catalogue.[12]
In August 2007, Média-Participations and its Belgian publishing company Dupuis had partnered with Belgian broadcasting network RTBF to form an in-house Belgian graphic & animation production studio called DreamWall, the new animation studio will be located in Marcinelle, Charleroi and would handle all of the animated television series produced by Média-Participations' animation studios including Dupuis Audiovisuel, Ellipsanime and Dargaud Media alongside outside studios starting with the television series Cedric with Dupuis holding a 51% in the new animation studio and RTBF holding a 49% in the new studio.[13][14]
In February 2009, Média-Participations entered the video game publishing industry by acquiring a French computer software company, Anuman Interactive.
In September 2013, Média-Participations through its anime-home video label Kana Home Video had partnered with Viz Media Europe, The European division of American entertainment company & Japanese manga publisher Viz Media via Kaźe to promote Japanese anime for the European market by merging the former's website Genzai with the latter's own website K2Play into one anime SVOD platform entitled ADN (Anime Digital Network) which launched a month later in October of that year.[15] American anime-streaming service Crunchyroll would take over ADN when it brought a majority stake in its parent Viz Media Europe five years later in December 2019[16], but three years later on July 27, 2022 Média-Participations acquired full ownership of the streaming service with the streaming service being rebranded to Animation Digital Network as it switched its focus from Japanese anime when Crunchyroll partered ways with the French streaming platform to focus on the latter's own streaming platforms.[17]
In September 2017, the company entered exclusive discussions to acquire fellow French publishing company La Martinière Groupe the parent of its division Editions de La Martinière alongside its imprints including France's most famous prestigious literary imprints Editions du Seuil and American art & children's publishing inprint Abrams Books.[18] Three months later in December of that year, the French government approved Média-Participations' planned acquisition of French publishing company La Martinière Group alongside its imprints such as famous publishing imprint Editions du Seuil and the group's American publishing imprint Abrams Books[19]
One year later on May 29, 2018, Média-Participations expanded into the theme park operations with the launch of its theme park in Monteux entitled Parc Spirou Provence, the new theme park brings all the comic book characters from comic books such as Spirou and Marsupilami originally published by Média-Participations' Belgian publishing arm Dupuis under one theme park which was delayed from its original 2015 announcement.[20]
In December 2019, following the departure of Média-Participations' previous CEO & president of its animation production companies and its Paris and Angoulême-based animation production studio Ellipse Studio, Maïa Tubiana, back in September of that year, Média-Participations had appointed Caroline Duvochel to be their new CEO of Média-Particiaptions' animation production activities namely Dargaud Media, French/Belgian audiovisuel production company Dupuis Edition & Audiovisuel, Ellipsanime Productions and its Paris and Angoulême-based in-house animation production studio Ellipse Studio.[21]
At the start of April 2020, Média-Participations appointed former Studio 100 Animation managing director & executive producer Katell France to lead its animation production group including Dargaud Media, Dupuis Edition & Audiovisuel, Ellipsanime Productions and Paris & Angoulême-based animation studio Ellipse Studio under the role of consuling producer for the group's programming state.[22]
In May 2022, Média-Participations entered a stragic partnetship with French music streaming service Deezer to develop & produce new audio experience content based on Média-Participations' massive portfolik of comic book brands, books and characters into audiobooks and audio dramas with them taking a investment in the French music streaming platform Deezer.[23]
In June 2022 during the annual Annecy International Animation Film Festival, Média-Participations announced that they were bringing all of their French animation production labels (which were Dargaud Media, French/Belgian audiovisuel production company Dupuis Edition & Audiovisuel, and Ellipsanime Productions) along with their Paris and Angoulême-based in-house animation production studio Ellipse Studio under one animation production umbrella group named Ellipse Animation with Média-Participations's animation production labels became part of the new production company alongside Paris and Angoulême-based in-house animation production studio Ellipse Studio became Ellipse Animation's new animation studio division.[24]
In January 2026, Média-Participations extended its animation business by acquiring a 25% stake in Paris-based animation company Miyu Productions including its distribution arm Miyu Distribution and entered a partnership with them to produce projects for its anime streaming platform Animation Digital Network.[25]
Asset activities
editComics
editComics and manga are published by six different publishers: the general audience publishers of Franco-Belgian comics Dupuis, Dargaud and Le Lombard, the publisher of manga Kana, and the specialized publishers Lucky Comics (for Lucky Luke) and Blake et Mortimer.
Multimedia
editMédia-Participations' handles their animation studios and video game publishing companies.
Animation studios
editThe group's animation production group Ellipse Animation through its production companies produced three to five new animation series every year. Media-Participations's international distribution subsidiary Mediatoon Distribution handle the group's catalogue over 3,000 hours of animation.
- Belvision - A historical animation production studio based in Belgium produced its shows from the 1950s to the present day. They also co-produce shows that Ellipse Animation's production companies produced.
- DreamWall
- Ellipse Animation - An entertainment & animation production group that handles all of Média-Participations three main animation productions studios under one roof.[24]
- Dargaud Media
- Dupuis Edition & Audiovisuel
- Ellipsanime Productions - A Paris-based French animation production subsidiary of Ellipse Animation those Média-Participations fellow publishing unit Dargaud had acquired from its previous parent company Canal+ through StudioExpand;[6][7] They acquired the library of the French television production company & animation studio MoonScoop S.A. in January 2014.[26]
- Miyu Productions (25%)[25]
- Studio Campedelli - An Italian animation production studio that was founded in 2008 by Pietro Campedelli.
- Mediatoon Distribution - The international distribution subsidiary of Média-Participations that handles distribution of all of Ellipse Animation's programming; the distribution subsidiary was originally known as Dargaud Distribution before merging it with Dupuis Audiovisuel's distribution arm Dupuis Distribution in 2004 before splitting from its previous parent Dargaud Media in January 2007.[12]
- Storimages
Mediatoon Distribution
editMediatoon Distribution, formerly known as Dargaud Distribution, is the French international distribution and IP managing subsidiary of Média-Participations that handles distribution of catalog of over 10,000 half-hours of programming produced by the Ellipse Animation production group, It's merchandising & brand development agency division Mediatoon Licensing, has specializing in licensing, merchandising, publishing, and audiovisual rights to a portfolio of comics published by the group's publishing companies such as Dargaud, Dupuis and Le Lombard.
In June 2004, Dargaud Distribution had folded Dupuis Audiovisuel's distribution division Dupuis Distribution into the distribution arm when Dargaud Distribution's parent Média Participations had brought rival publishing company Dupuis alongside its production arm Dupuis Audiovisuel and its production library with Dargaud Distribution started handling distribution to Dupuis Audiovisuel's catalouge and would handle distribute the latter's future series.[8]
On December 22 2008, Mediatoon under its interactive division Mediatoon Interactive announced the launch of the online channel that bring all of the productions originally produced by Média-Participations' fellow animation production studios which were - Dargaud Media, Dupuis Audiovisuel, Ellipsanime Productions and Storimages - under one brand named eToon to bring all of the group's programming library as well as series produced by indie studios on VOD and SVOD platforms.[28]
In April 2021, Mediatoon Distribution's licensing & IP management division, Mediatoon Licensing, partnered with Belgian entertainment company Studio 100 via its German distribution division Studio 100 Media to represent Mediatoon's franchises mainly from Mediatoon Distribution's programming catalogue and publishing catalogues of both Dupuis and Dargaud such as Lucky Luke to the German-speaking territories and other Central Europe territories to expand its international presence.[29]
In June 2024, Mediatoon Distributed strengthened its long-running distribution partnership with Bayard Animation to handle international global distribution sales to Bayard Animation's upcoming programming including the second season of Bayard Animation's preschool television series Zouk.[30]
Animation Digital Network
editAnimation Digital Network (also known as ADN), formerly known as Anime Digital Network, is Média-Participations' French streaming service that is dedicated to legal, high-definition anime, manga, and animation content that was formed from the merger of two anime-focus platforms Genzai and KZPlay. It offers a wide catalog of Japanese anime simulcasting, as well as European and Asian animations, available in its original Japanese language and French-subtitled/dubbed versions.
The streaming service launches when Média-Participations under its anime-focus home video label Kana Home Video partnered with Viz Media's European publishing & entertainment division Viz Media Europe through Kazé to merge Kana's streaming platform Genzai with Kazé's own platform KZ Play to form one anime-focused streaming service.[31]
In July 2021, Anime Digital Network signed a deal with Indian media technology company Amagi to handle distribution for ADN's French anime channel to Samsung TV Plus as ADN would use Amagi's cloud live platform for live broadcasting.[32]
Magazines
edit- Spirou, published by Dupuis
- Famille chrétienne, published by Edifa
- different magazines by Rustica, including Système D
Books
edit- Editions Chronique for thematic publications
- Le Ballon for children's books
- Fleurus for a wide variety of books, including many children's books
- La Martinière Groupe
VideoGames
edit- Syberia Series (as. Syberia, Syberia II and Syberia III is in development.) by: Microïds an Anuman software brand.
- Still Life series (as. Post Mortem, Still Life and Still Life 2) by: Microïds
- Dracula Series
References
edit- ↑ "Le Seuil, La Martinière, Dargaud: Media-Participations in search of synergies for its houses - 19/03/2025". La Lettre (in French).
- ↑ "News briefs". Kidscreen. 1 June 1997.
- ↑ "Éditions Chronique". Éditions Chronique (in French). September 1, 2001.
- 1 2 "History". Média-Participations.
- ↑ "About Ellipse Animation". Ellipse Animation.
- 1 2 Esposito, Maria (July 22, 2003). "Dargaud acquires Ellipse Animation". C21Media. Retrieved September 20, 2024.
- 1 2 DeMott, Rick (July 22, 2003). "Ellipse Animation Sold to Comic Book Firm". Animation World Network. Retrieved December 20, 2024.
- 1 2 "Media-Participations Buys Dupuis". The Comics Reporter. June 25, 2004.
- ↑ "Media-Participations makes over 1 bln eur bid for Wendel's Editis". Forbes. 28 March 2008. Retrieved 7 April 2009.[dead link]
- ↑ David, Christian (1 October 2004). "Vincent Montagne géant discret de l'édition" (in French). L'Expansion. Retrieved 7 April 2009.
- ↑ "Bilan 2009". ACBD. December 2009. Archived from the original on October 4, 2010. Retrieved 14 November 2015.
- 1 2 "Mediatoon International Distribution Takes Shape". Worldscreen. January 31, 2007. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
- ↑ Mac Kay, Philippe (August 17, 2008). "DreamWall has become a reality". La Libre (in French).
- ↑ Anspach, Nicolas; Pasamonik, Didier (August 20, 2007). "With Dreamwall, Dupuis and RTBF are creating a Walloon competitiveness cluster". Actua BD (in French).
- ↑ Rusak, Gary (September 11, 2013). "Media-Participations and Viz create Anime hub". Kidscreen.
- ↑ "Crunchyroll Becomes Majority Owner of VIZ Media Europe Group". Crunchyroll. December 4, 2019. Archived from the original on December 4, 2019. Retrieved December 4, 2019.
- ↑ "Crunchyroll se sépare d'ADN et devient le premier diffuseur d'anime en France" (in French). Crunchyroll. July 27, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
- ↑ "French publishers la Martiniere, Media-Participations hold merger talks". Reuters. 21 September 2017.
- ↑ "Willkie Advises la Martinière Groupe in its Combination with Média-Participations | News | Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP".
- ↑ "Spirou Provence Park opens its doors with an extra €5 million". Les Echos Capital Finance (in French). May 29, 2018.
- ↑ Kaminska, Karolina (December 19, 2019). "France's Média Participations staffs up". C21Media.
- ↑ "Studio 100 Vet Katell France Enlists with Média-Participations". Animation Magazine. April 1, 2020.
- ↑ "Deezer and Média-Participations enter strategic partnership to develop new and creative content experiences for a worldwide audience". Deezer. May 3, 2022.
- 1 2 Brzoznowski, Kristin (June 15, 2022). "Média-Participations Sets Out Cross-Media Strategy". Worldscreen. Retrieved February 22, 2025.
- 1 2 Stalcup (January 12, 2026). "Média-Participations Takes Stake in Miyu Productions". Jamie.
- ↑ "Ellipsanime acquires Moonscoop". Kidscreen. January 17, 2014. Retrieved December 14, 2024.
- ↑ "Animation: Ankama and Média-Participations create a new studio". La Tribune (in French). October 2, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2024.
- ↑ Claire Afan, Emily (December 22, 2008). "Mediatoon launches eToon". Kidscreen.
- ↑ Tuchow, Ryan (April 26, 2021). "Mediatoon appoints Studio 100 for Euro licensing". Kidscreen.
- ↑ "Mediatoon Distribution and Bayard Animation expand their partnership". Señal News. June 25, 2024.
- ↑ "Anime Digital Network en approche !". Manga News (in French). September 9, 2013..
- ↑ Dziadul, Chris (July 27, 2021). "Amagi partners with Anime Digital Network". Broadband TV News.