#BBC Studios Acquires Spanish Producer Brutal Media

BBC Studios on Wednesday unveiled that it has acquired Spanish producer Brutal Media, adding another banner to its growing production network. The U.K. public broadcaster’s commercial arm said the deal will enable it “to respond to the increased appetite for BBC content from Spanish audiences and support Brutal Media’s ambitions to export original creative IP from Spain to the wider international market.”

Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Brutal Media founders Raimon Masllorens and Nèlida Sanchez will continue to lead the local team. BBC Studios’ Isabel Durán, format sales director for the region, will transition to the new position of head of entertainment within the Brutal Media team.

Under the agreement, Brutal Media will “continue to develop and market its slate of original IP in Spain as well as producing local adaptations of the unscripted and scripted formats in the BBC Studios catalog,” the companies said. BBC Studios will distribute and produce Brutal Media formats outside of Spain.

The deal brings the total number of markets in which BBC Studios has a production base to 12 and supports its ambition to double the size of its 2021/2022 business by 2027/2028. Earlier this week, BBC Studios Productions Australia acquired Werner Film Productions. 

Founded in 2009, Brutal Media has “a proven track record of producing hit shows for global streamers and local broadcasters in the unscripted and scripted space,” BBC Studios said. Its recent work includes the Netflix miniseries Asalto Al Banco Central, The Academy (Sony Pictures Television), Vintage (3cat), film Killer Book Club (Netflix), series Welcome to Eden (Netflix) and The Hockey Girls (Netflix, 3Cat), as well as documentaries The End of the Storm (Sky TV, Liverpool FC) and Murder by the Coast (Netflix), and romantic comedy I Love You Stupid (Netflix).

Brutal Media’s portfolio also includes original formats This Is Opera and This Is Art, which both aired in more than 70 territories. It has also produced This Is Philosophy and Opera In Jeans, as well as primetime family-oriented factual shows El Paisano and El Foraster.

BBC Studios said it has successfully licensed formats into Spain for a number of years and has had “considerable success with unscripted formats over the past 12 months, with brands such as Dancing With the Stars, The Great Bake Off, The 1% Club, Bridge of Lies, MoneyBags and The Greats launching across the major Spanish networks.” 

Said Jacob de Boer, executive vp, global entertainment at BBC Studios: “This agreement with Brutal Media is the natural next step for BBC Studios to expand our presence in the Spanish market. With their local expertise, strong local network and exciting development slate, Brutal Media is the perfect partner to produce the high-quality Spanish language content that we know local and global audiences are looking for.”

Brutal Media founders Masllorens and Sanchez said that BBC Studios’ catalog “offers us new and exciting opportunities, in both scripted and non-scripted content.”

And Matt Forde, managing director, global entertainment at BBC Studios Productions, said: “Together with the announcement earlier this week about Werner Film Productions in Australia, bringing Brutal Media into our award-winning production network is testament to our commitment to supporting the world’s best local creative talent, identifying complementary expertise in some of the world’s most dynamic media markets and showcasing it to our partners and audiences on a global stage.”

The BBC Studios Global Entertainment production network now has bases in the U.K., Australia, France, Germany, India, South Africa, the Nordics and the U.S.