London-based financier and producer Anton, which already fully finances a slate of its own feature films and short-form content, as well as co-financing big-budget TV shows like HBO/BBC’s “His Dark Materials,” is moving into the development and production of its own scripted series, Anton founder Sebastien Raybaud tells Variety.The 8-year-old company, named after Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, established its reputation with a film co-production pact — now concluded — with Studiocanal, encompassing titles like the “Paddington” franchise, “Non-Stop” and “Shaun the Sheep.”In 2017 Anton entered a co-production partnership with the BBC, with an initial investment of £150 million ($193 million), to greenlight premium British drama with international appeal, such as “McMafia,” “Les Misérables” and “His Dark Materials,” which launched this week to stellar numbers.Last year, Anton signed a sales, financing and production pact on the $40 million animated movie “Fireheart,” from Main Journey’s production team Laurent Zeitoun and Yann Zenou (“The Intouchables”), producers of “Ballerina.
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