Fremantle Acquires ‘This England’ & ‘True Detective’ EP Richard Brown’s Passenger

EXCLUSIVE : Fremantle has acquired True Detective and This England exec Richard Brown 's Passenger , with Brown landing a senior role within the super-indie's Global Drama division.

The highly-acquisitive RTL-owned outfit already has an exclusive overall agreement with Passenger, which has spawned the likes of This England, Sky's recent retelling of the early days of the Covid pandemic and Boris Johnson's government, penned by Michael Winterbottom.

Passenger, which launched when that deal was struck three-and-a-half years ago , will become a fully-owned Fremantle label, sitting within Christian Vesper's Global Drama division. The deal is one of a spate Fremantle has unveiled in recent weeks.

Brown will continue running Passenger while taking on a creative role within Vesper's team, helping drive Fremantle's efforts in the development of both TV and film and building up talent relationships. His New York, LA and London-based indie will expand with the signing of VP, Development Caitlin Bruner and promotion of Elisa Swift to Creative Executive. More hires are expected in due course.

Andrea Scrosati, Fremantle Group COO/CEO Continental Europe, said Brown has "built a wonderful business and we have shared great creative exchanges."

"He is one of the most culturally sophisticated producers I have ever worked with, so I am thrilled that we will continue to work together creating more unique content for the global stage across many genres," added Scrosati.

Brown called Fremantle "the ideal partner," offering "unwavering support and a distinct vision at a transformative time for our industry."

Prior to Passenger, Brown worked with Steve Golin on Anonymous Content's expansion into TV, exec producing hits including HBO's True Detective and George Clooney's Catch 22 for Hulu, Channel 4 and Sky Italia.

Since launching his own shingle, the company has optioned Tess Gunty's 2022 National Book Award winning debut novel The Rabbit Hutch and produced a premium doc on the Basketball Africa League, both of which were made with Fremantle. Passenger also has a first-look deal with Winterbottom's Revolution Films.

The move is the latest in a long line of M&A activity by Fremantle.

In recent weeks, it has unveiled deals for Israeli producer Silvio Productions, 9/11: One Day in America producer 72 Films, British natural history firm Wildstar Films, Normal People indie Element Pictures and veteran Italian outfit Lux Vide. Fremantle has also struck major talent deals with the likes of Angelina Jolie.

In the U.S., Fremantle has majority stakes in Original Productions and Eureka and minority in Fabel Entertainment and The Immigrant.