Ex-Netflix Exec Chris Sussman Signs Banijay Deal As Super-Indie’s $59M Investment Drive Continues

Former Netflix UK Director of Scripted Chris Sussman has signed a deal with Banijay UK.

Under terms of the exclusive first-look agreement, he’ll develop original scripted projects, working with Banijay labels to produce them.

This is part of Banijay’s £50M ($59M) UK Growth Fund initiative, which is aimed at partnering the group with high-profile talent, investing in new business and striking other sorts of talent deals.

Sussman fits that bill. His credits include work on Fleabag, This Country, Catastrophe, Charlie Brooker’s Wipe, Good Omens, Mum, People Just Do Nothing and Bad Education. We revealed back in June last year that he was exiting his post at Netflix, where he had worked on shows such as Man Vs Bee and Harlan Coben drama Stay Close, and we later reported he was in talks to exec the fourth season of Apple TV+’s Trying.

Banijay UK CEO Patrick Holland first outlined the Growth Fund to Deadline in August last year, before the fund was officially unveiled a few months back.

“Chris is an extraordinary creative with fantastic talent relationships so I can’t wait to work with him,” said Holland. “The UK Growth Fund was set up to enable us to attract exciting names like Chris to business, so I’m delighted to be able to announce this deal.”

The pair worked together at the BBC, when Sussman was Head of Scripted Comedy at BBC Studios and Holland was Controller of BBC2.

“I loved working with Patrick when he was Controller of BBC2 and am excited to see what else we can develop together,” said Sussman. “Nobody seems to be returning my phone calls now I’m not in commissioning anymore, but I’m sure that’s just a problem with my mobile network and it will all be sorted soon.”

Besides Netflix and the BBC, where he was also a commissioning executive, Sussman spent nearly 10 years as an exec producer and producer for various British production companies. He also wrote on sketch shows series as The Peter Serafinowicz Show, Monkey Dust and Man Stroke Woman.