Anonymous & Federation land UBBA agent to lead joint-venture prodco

Rosalie Cimino

Anonymous Content and Federation Studios have named a talent agent from UBBA to lead its joint venture production firm in France.

Rosalie Cimino becomes MD and producer at Anonymous Federation, which was unveiled in 2021 by Bardot producer Federation and US-based Anonymous, which as been behind The Revenant and Mr. Robot.

The Paris-based prodco, which focuses on developing and producing drama and docs for both local French and global audiences, had been overseen by Dawn Olmstead and David Levine on behalf of Anonymous, and by Pascal Breton, Lionel Uzan and Patrick Wachsberger on behalf of Federation.

Cimino had been at UBBA since 2010, following an eight-year spell at Intertalent. She has managed the likes of Matthias Schoenaerts, Mélanie Thierry and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre.

Bardot

Cimino said: “I couldn’t dream of better partners for this new chapter of my professional life. Federation and Anonymous Content have always put talent and creativity at the very core of their productions, just like I did as an agent.

“I’m thrilled to benefit from this unique energy in the current audiovisual landscape, and to be able to put all my energy and my ability to carry out ambitious projects, at the service of Anonymous Federation.”

Anonymous CEO Olmstead added: “With Rosalie at the helm, I have no doubt we will create incredible compelling films and series that are authentic to local French audiences but also appeal to viewers on a global scale.”

Uzan, MD at Federation, said: “More than ever, we believe that the future belongs to the talents, and this fruitful collaboration with Anonymous Content gives us the ability to get even closer to the best French and international showrunners and filmmakers. Rosalie’s experience, her relationships with the greatest talents of today and her ability to identify those of tomorrow are a great strength and we look forward to working together.”

Projects underway include Veerle Baetens’s film When It Melts, while The Abduction Of Yossele Schumacher – an English-, French-, Yiddish- and Hebrew-language series – was also in the works.

The show is based on a true story in the early 1960’s, in which the abduction of an eight-year-old Jewish boy by his ultra-Orthodox grandfather leads three women to clash over his fate and faith, and to a fierce conflict between the Israeli Mossad and the impenetrable global web of the Orthodox community.

Federation has been expanding over recent years and secured a €50m ($60m) investment in 2021 to fuel its international growth. Last week, it merged its sales arm with subsidiary Calt Distribution.