Netflix and BBC commissioners to jointly lead Mediawan-backed, London-based office of Margot Robbie label
Margot Robbie’s LuckyChap has partnered with Mediawan Group to launch a London-based international division headed by Netflix’s Mona Qureshi and the BBC’s Tanya Qureshi.
LuckyChap International, which will work across film and TV, will formally launch in January and is a joint venture with French giant Mediawan. It is majority-owned and controlled by LuckyChap.
Mona Qureshi was most recently director of scripted series at Netflix UK, while Tanya Qureshi joins having been a commissioning editor of drama at the BBC.
The duo will be co-managing directors, international, overseeing creative and day-to-day operations for the new company, with a primary focus on TV.
The company will build out a broader team in the coming months and will work in partnership with LuckyChap’s existing US film and TV teams. These have been recently bolstered with the hiring of Courtney Cunniff and Bronte Payne as co-heads of film.
Shows for the new label will leverage the “unique voices working in the UK and Europe”, the company said, whilst also taking advantage of the region’s production and co-production environment.
Mediawan’s backing of Lucky Chap in Europe comes less than two months since the Paris-headquartered company backed Brad Pitt’s Plan B in the region, hiring former Clerkenwell exec producer Ed Macdonald to run the firm.
Career paths
Mona started out as an assistant at BBC Films in the late 1990s and has been behind and worked in development and production for Ruby Films and The Ink Factory.
Her credits include films such as Brick Lane for FilmFour, The Other Boleyn Girl for Sony/BBC, Small Island for BBC Drama, and Susanne Bier’s adaptation of John le Carre’s The Night Manager.
She returned to BBC Drama as commissioning editor for England in 2017, where she was responsible for shows including Chan Wook Park’s The Little Drummer Girl, Les Misérables, and Hugo Blick’s The English.
In 2022, she moved to Netflix UK’s original series team, working on Adolescence, which was produced with Mediawan-backed Plan B.
Tanya has been a BBC commissioning editor for drama since 2021, with credits on Riot Women, produced by Mediawan’s Drama Republic, which also produced The English. She was also behind Waiting for the Out from Dennis Kelly and Sister Pictures, alongside hit comedies Ludwig and Amandaland and upcoming Can You Keep A Secret? with Dawn French.
She previously worked as head of comedy at the BBC for four years where she was across department strategy, shaping the slate and managing budgets, and before that was at Various Artists, working on Netfix’s I May Destroy You, among others.
Mona and Tanya said: “We’ve always shared a deep love of storytelling, so getting to build something together at LuckyChap feels like a dream.
“As sisters, we’ve cheered each other on through our individual careers, and now we get to combine everything we’ve learned to grow this next chapter – literally and figuratively – side by side.
“The team at LuckyChap are passionate champions of distinctive voices and bold ideas, and we are thrilled to be part of expanding that mission internationally. It’s rare to find a company that leads with such heart and mischief – we can’t wait to join their ranks and continue to build in that spirit.”
A statement from LuckyChap Partners read: “Launching LuckyChap into the UK and Europe has been a goal of ours for a long time and we feel we’ve landed upon the perfect alchemy with this team.
“To combine Mediawan’s passion for nurturing great storytelling and their far-reaching strategic capabilities, with the incredible creative leadership of Mona and Tanya Qureshi, instinctively feels like an undeniable way to catapult this journey.
“Every aspect of this international partnership feels aligned creatively, culturally, and operationally, driving forward LuckyChap’s core mission of empowering storytellers in both creative and strategic ways.
“Mona and Tanya’s rich and storied experience in this industry speaks for itself and we couldn’t be more excited to work with them, and our friends at Mediawan, in building something special.”
Mediawan chairman and co-founder Pierre-Antoine Capton said: “We are thrilled to support LuckyChap’s talented teams in this new and pivotal step of their development.
“At Mediawan, since our creation, our mission has always been to champion creative excellence and outstanding stories from the best talent around the world.
“This partnership perfectly embodies our ambitions for global growth, especially throught the creation of strategic and innovative collaborations.
“Their presence in the UK, which is a true bridge between the creative industries of America and Europe, under the leadership of the acclaimed duo Mona Qureshi and Tanya Qureshi, will open up new opportunities for us to keep producing premium content and sharing it with a wide audience.
“As a leading studio in Europe, we are excited to be able to offer LuckyChap our expertise and know-how in order to support their growth and creativity.”
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