Sky Studios partners with Fremantle’s Italian label The Apartment

Lorenzo Mieli (left) and Gary Davey

Sky Studios has struck a development and partnership deal with Fremantle’s newly formed Italian label The Apartment.

Under the deal, Sky Studios will provide development funding for a minimum of three shows alongside a commitment to produce.

Lorenzo Mieli, a co-founder of Fremantle’s Wildside and producer behind shows such as The Young Pope and My Brilliant Friend, became the CEO of The Apartment in January 2020.

The newly formed label is a Fremantle subsidiary, which expanded its footprint in Italy by setting up The Apartment. The label plans to focus on the creation and development of global drama produced with international talent behind and in front of the camera.

The deal strengthens the relationship between Sky and Lorenzo Mieli who has produced a number of international hits for Sky and HBO including Paolo Sorrentino’s recently aired The New Pope and Luca Guadagnino’s We Are Who We Are.

Gary Davey, CEO of Sky Studios: “Over the past few years, we have developed a strong creative partnership with Lorenzo Mieli and the time is now right for both The Apartment and Sky Studios to take our creative ambition to the next level.”

Mieli said: “Signing this contract is first of all a beautiful way to seal a long-standing and much-valued professional relationship between myself, Gary Davey and Sky. Years of work with a company and with people who have an enlightened and enlightening vision of our sector. Together we turned the idea of producing high quality international series from Europe into a concrete reality, creating a new scenario in a constantly evolving market.”

Sky Studios develops, produces and funds original drama, comedy and documentary, and has 52 scripted shows already in production.