Lagardere moves into Asia, eyes Africa

French production and distribution house Lagardere Entertainment is launching Lagardere Entertainment Asia and opening its first office in Singapore.

Stephane Bouillaud, a former presenter of Temptation Island on TF1, will run the Singapore base.

“From there, We’re heading to open subsidiaries in SouthEastern Asia, Vietnam, Birmany, Thailand and Cambodia with the idea to develop local programming for local channels, which are much in demand for contents” Takis Candilis, CEO of Lagardere Entertainment said.

Production in Asia will mostly focus on light entertainment, drama and documentary. Formats from the Lagardere Entertainment group could also be adapted .

Lagardère’s move is the first step of the group across the emerging countries. The group also forecast further developments next November in Africa, as it looks to capitalise upon the digital channel boom on the continent.

Lagardère also plans to open a training service called Lagardere Entertainment Academy, to bring its skills to future professionals in Asia or Africa.