Plan B Entertainment

Plan B Entertainment is an American film and television production company founded in 2001 by actor Brad Pitt, actress Jennifer Aniston, and producer Brad Grey. The company was created to develop and produce projects that could be pursued outside the conventional studio-star model, combining commercial reach with strong filmmakers, distinctive scripts, and subject matter that often carries social, political, or historical significance. Its name became associated with projects that could move between independent-style development and large-scale studio distribution. The founding partnership changed during the company’s first decade. Jennifer Aniston departed after her divorce from Pitt, while Brad Grey later left to lead Paramount Pictures. Pitt remained closely associated with the company, and producers Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner became its central operating figures. Under their leadership, Plan B developed a reputation for working with major directors and for backing films that received substantial critical recognition, awards attention, and international distribution. Plan B’s filmography includes projects such as The Departed, A Mighty Heart, The Tree of Life, Moneyball, World War Z, 12 Years a Slave, Selma, The Big Short, Moonlight, If Beale Street Could Talk, Beautiful Boy, Ad Astra, Minari, Women Talking, and She Said. These productions span historical drama, literary adaptation, biographical drama, science fiction, horror, comedy-drama, and large-scale commercial entertainment. Several became important awards-season films, while others demonstrated that the company could apply its development and producing model to genre and franchise-oriented material. The company also expanded substantially into television and streaming. Its television work has included The OA, Sweetbitter, The Underground Railroad, Outer Range, and other projects developed with premium cable, broadcast, and streaming partners. Television has allowed Plan B to pursue longer-form narratives and to collaborate with creators whose work may not fit a traditional theatrical model. In 2022, France’s Mediawan announced an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Plan B Entertainment. The transaction placed Plan B within a larger international content group while preserving the company’s identity and operating autonomy. Pitt, Gardner, and Kleiner continued to be associated with the company after the investment. Plan B therefore operates as an active production label rather than a conventional public studio: it generally does not distribute directly at scale, but originates, packages, finances, and produces projects with external distributors and platforms. The brand’s market position rests on a combination of prestige filmmaking, talent relationships, awards-oriented production, and selective commercial projects. Its most distinctive characteristic is not a single genre or product format, but a producer-led approach that links prominent creative talent with stories capable of reaching broad audiences. Because individual projects are made with different distribution partners, Plan B’s catalog is spread across theatrical studios, premium television services, and streaming platforms.

Plan B Entertainment was established in 2001 by Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, and Brad Grey. The company emerged during a period when prominent actors and producers were increasingly creating independent production entities to gain greater control over material, packaging, and relationships with filmmakers. Plan B was designed as a production and development company rather than a vertically integrated studio, meaning that it could originate projects while relying on outside distributors and financing partners for release and marketing. The company’s early identity was shaped by its founders’ Hollywood relationships and by an ambition to develop projects with both artistic distinction and mainstream potential. Pitt’s star power helped attract talent and financing, while Grey brought extensive producing and studio experience. Aniston’s participation connected the company to the commercial film business at a time when actor-led production labels were an important route for developing projects around established performers. The original ownership structure did not remain unchanged. Aniston left the company following her separation from Pitt, and Grey later departed to become chairman and chief executive of Paramount Pictures. Pitt continued as the public face and a producer associated with Plan B. Dede Gardner became a key executive and producer, and Jeremy Kleiner later joined the senior leadership. Together, Gardner and Kleiner helped shape the company’s modern reputation as a selective, director-oriented producer. During the 2000s and early 2010s, Plan B worked across a broad range of material. The company was involved in projects including The Departed, A Mighty Heart, The Tree of Life, Moneyball, and World War Z. The range was significant: the company could participate in serious historical and literary dramas while also producing large-scale commercial films. This balance prevented the label from being confined either to independent cinema or to celebrity-driven entertainment. Plan B’s awards profile became especially strong in the 2010s. The company produced or co-produced 12 Years a Slave, Selma, The Big Short, and Moonlight. 12 Years a Slave won the Academy Award for Best Picture, while Moonlight also won Best Picture and became a landmark example of an independently minded film achieving the highest level of mainstream awards recognition. The company subsequently continued producing projects such as If Beale Street Could Talk, Beautiful Boy, Ad Astra, Minari, Women Talking, and She Said. These films reinforced its association with literary adaptation, historical memory, social issues, family relationships, and distinctive authorship. Television became an increasingly important part of the business. Plan B participated in projects made for conventional networks, premium services, and streaming platforms, including The OA, Sweetbitter, The Underground Railroad, and Outer Range. The expansion reflected a wider industry shift: long-form television and streaming offered production companies more opportunities to develop ambitious stories and to build relationships with creators outside the theatrical release system. In December 2022, Mediawan announced an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Plan B Entertainment. The deal connected Plan B to a larger international production and distribution group, but public announcements described Plan B as retaining its identity and continuing under its existing creative leadership. The investment also reflected the strategic value of established production labels with award-winning catalogs and relationships with high-profile filmmakers. Plan B remains an active production company whose output is project-based. It does not function like a consumer brand with a standardized product line. Instead, its brand value comes from the quality and cultural visibility of the films and series it develops, the producers and directors it attracts, and its ability to move projects among theatrical studios, television companies, and streaming platforms. Its history is therefore best understood as the evolution of a celebrity-founded label into an internationally connected, producer-led content company.

• 2022

  Mediawan acquires a majority stake

  [2]Mediawan buys majority stake in Brad Pitt's Plan Breuters.com

  Mediawan announces an agreement to acquire a majority interest in Plan B Entertainment while maintaining the label’s creative structure.

• 2017

  Moonlight wins Best Picture

  [4]Academy Awards, 2017 ceremonyoscars.org

  Moonlight wins the Academy Award for Best Picture, becoming a central achievement in Plan B’s history.

• 2016

  Moonlight is released

  [8]Moonlight is releaseden.wikipedia.org

  Barry Jenkins’s Moonlight expands Plan B’s awards and independent-film profile.

• 2014

  12 Years a Slave wins Best Picture

  [3]Academy Awards, 2014 ceremonyoscars.org

  The film’s producer team, including Plan B, receives the Academy Award for Best Picture.

• 2013

  12 Years a Slave is released

  [3]Academy Awards, 2014 ceremonyoscars.org

  The historical drama becomes one of Plan B’s defining productions and later wins the Academy Award for Best Picture.

• 2011

  Moneyball is released

  [7]Moneyball is releaseden.wikipedia.org

  Moneyball demonstrates Plan B’s ability to combine a commercially accessible sports story with a character-driven, awards-oriented production.

• 2007

  The Departed wins Best Picture

  [6]The Departed wins Best Pictureoscars.org

  Plan B is associated with The Departed, which wins the Academy Award for Best Picture.

• 2006

  Aniston departs and Grey moves into studio leadership

  [1]Plan B Entertainmenten.wikipedia.org

  The original founding structure changes after Jennifer Aniston leaves and Brad Grey takes a senior leadership role at Paramount.

• 2006

  A Mighty Heart reaches theaters

  [5]A Mighty Heart reaches theatersen.wikipedia.org

  Plan B produces A Mighty Heart, an early project that reflects the company’s interest in politically and historically consequential stories.

• 2001

  Plan B Entertainment is founded

  [1]Plan B Entertainmenten.wikipedia.org

  Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, and Brad Grey establish Plan B Entertainment as a film production company.

A prestige-oriented, filmmaker-led production company that combines independent sensibility with studio-scale financing, distribution relationships, and international reach.

• Film production · 2001

  Feature films

  Plan B’s principal business is developing, financing, packaging, and producing feature films with outside studio and distribution partners. Its film slate ranges from prestige dramas and literary adaptations to biographical stories, science fiction, horror, comedy-drama, and large-scale commercial entertainment. Representative productions include The Departed, Moneyball, World War Z, 12 Years a Slave, Moonlight, Minari, Women Talking, and She Said.

• Television production · 2016

  Television and streaming series

  Plan B develops and produces scripted television for broadcast, premium television, and streaming platforms. Its television work allows the company to support longer-form narratives and creator-led projects that may not fit a theatrical release model. Projects associated with the company include The OA, Sweetbitter, The Underground Railroad, and Outer Range.

• 2022

  Accepting a majority investment from MediawanM&A

  Background

  Plan B operated as an independent production label but had an established catalog, international filmmaker relationships, and growing television activity. Mediawan sought to expand its international content portfolio.

  Action taken

  Mediawan agreed to acquire a majority stake in Plan B Entertainment. Public reporting indicated that Plan B would continue operating under its existing identity and leadership.

  Aftermath

  The transaction connected Plan B to Mediawan’s broader international content group while preserving the production company as a distinct creative label.

  Source

• 2022

  Mediawan agrees to acquire a majority stake in Plan B Entertainment[2]Mediawan buys majority stake in Brad Pitt's Plan Breuters.com

  M&A

  Mediawan announced an agreement to acquire a majority interest in Plan B, creating a closer connection between the American production company and Mediawan’s international content group while keeping Plan B’s creative identity and leadership in place.

• 2016

  Plan B backs Moonlight[4]Academy Awards, 2017 ceremonyoscars.org

  Other

  Plan B produced Barry Jenkins’s Moonlight, which became a major awards success and won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

• 2014

  12 Years a Slave wins Best Picture[3]Academy Awards, 2014 ceremonyoscars.org

  Other

  Plan B was among the producers of 12 Years a Slave, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and strengthened the company’s profile as a producer of historically and socially significant films.

1. 1Plan B Entertainmenten.wikipedia.org
2. 2Mediawan buys majority stake in Brad Pitt's Plan Breuters.com
3. 3Academy Awards, 2014 ceremonyoscars.org
4. 4Academy Awards, 2017 ceremonyoscars.org
5. 5A Mighty Heart reaches theatersen.wikipedia.org
6. 6The Departed wins Best Pictureoscars.org
7. 7Moneyball is releaseden.wikipedia.org
8. 8Moonlight is releaseden.wikipedia.org