In the newly devised role, which commences on 1 February, he will act as a key facilitator in the group’s production development process, supporting in driving co-production opportunities across Europe.
Banijay today announced the addition of Steve Matthews to its central scripted department.
Appointed Content Partnerships Executive, the HBO Europe alumni will report to recently announced Global Head of Scripted, Christian Wikander.
In the newly devised role, which commences on 1 February, he will act as a key facilitator in the group’s production development process, supporting in driving co-production opportunities across the Nordics, Spain and beyond, and generally building out the business’ pipeline and creative partnerships primarily across drama.
Matthews joins the 22-territory organisation from HBO Europe, where he most recently served as VP, Executive Producer, Scripted, having joined the business back in 2014. In that post, he partnered with local teams across Central Europe, Spain and Nordics, to spearhead the development of original series and miniseries, as well as international adaptations. There he worked on productions including Pustina, Umbre, Blinded By The Lights, Uspjeh, The Sleepers, Foodie Love, Gösta; and from Banijay’s footprint specifically, 30 Coins (Pokeepsie), Beforeigners (Rubicon), and Beartown (Filmlance).
Marco Bassetti, Chief Executive Officer, Banijay comments: “Scripted very much remains an area in which we want to grow our business, and over the past few years, we have really focused on nurturing a solid premium pipeline, further building our position reputationally in the market. Through organic growth and M&A, we will continue to strengthen our capabilities in this arena and in Steve, we have vast amounts of knowledge, and hands-on experience, which will be invaluable as we continue to expand our portfolio.”
Steve Matthews comments: “Banijay has an impressive collection of scripted labels and some of the most anticipated and enjoyed titles in the world. Both locally and internationally, it has carved a name for itself as a go-to for quality and creativity. It will be great to be reunited with Christian in continuing to spur on the group’s catalogue potential and support its fantastic talent in taking even more shows from development to commission worldwide.”
Prior to his eight-year stint at HBO Europe, Matthews was at Octagon Films in Dublin, where he produced four seasons of RTE’s award-winning gangster series, Love/Hate, and was Consulting Producer on all three runs of Showtime’s The Borgias starring Jeremy Irons. With a strong track record in premium scripted, he has also enjoyed periods as Head of Development at Ray Winstone’s Size 9 Productions, a script editor on the BBC’s long-running drama, Silent Witness, and as co-creator and producer of Urban Gothic for the UK’s Channel 5. Beyond the screen, he teaches regularly at the Midpoint writing programmes and has lectured at Serial Eyes and Series Mania.
