Lagardère takes control of DIFFA
May 19, 2015
Lagardère Entertainment is formalising the partnership it formed several months ago with the distribution platform DIFFA (International Distribution of Films and Fiction from Africa). DIFFA has built up a catalogue of 500 hours of programmes and a network of 24 producers from a dozen African countries.
Following the signing of the agreement on May 5th last year, the DIFFA label and all its activities were incorporated into a new company that will take the name DIFFA.
Launched 3 years ago by Alain Modot (Media Consulting Group) and Jean-Hubert Nankam (Martika Production, based in Ivory Coast), DIFFA will now be majority-owned by Lagardère Entertainment. Its original mission—to provide opportunities for film and television production from Africa—will remain DIFFA’s main strategic direction. In light of this, Lagardère Entertainment is announcing the upcoming opening of two offices—one in Abidjan and the other in Johannesburg.
“Lagardère Entertainment’s positioning in Africa coincides with the growing need for content on the continent,” says Takis Candilis, President of Lagardère Entertainment and of DIFFA. “We wish to offer the production means capable of responding to this demand, and accompany the growth of the audiovisual market. We are very pleased that Alain Modot—whose first-rate knowledge of the African market is unanimously recognised—is joining our group.”