What ASTER does

ASTER is a French audiovisual production company founded in 1992 and headquartered in Lyon, with additional offices in Rennes and Besançon. Operating as part of the Mehrangarh communication group since 2011, the company specializes in cinema, television, and advertising film production with a thematic focus on environmental and sustainable-development content, producing documentaries, corporate films, and feature-length works. Its core products include the cinema/TV/advertising production business, the Antarctica immersive exhibition (co-created with Musée des Confluences, reaching 800,000+ visitors across Lyon, Bremen, and Brussels), and bigprod, an online platform that handles administrative and payroll workflows for over 1,000 intermittent entertainment professionals, covering contracts, DUE, image rights, expense reports, and invoicing.

The company serves three primary customer segments: large French and international corporations (Air France, Sanofi, Dassault Aviation, Bouygues Construction, Saint-Gobain, Maison Guerlain, Loro Piana, Venturi) requiring bespoke corporate films; broadcasters and streaming platforms (France Télévision, Canal+) sourcing nature and environmental documentaries; and cultural institutions hosting immersive exhibitions. Long-standing creative partnerships include Oscar-winning filmmaker Luc Jacquet (since 1996, co-producer of March of the Penguins legacy works), and the company merged with Wild-Touch Production in 2021 to consolidate cinematic capability.

Revenue is generated through project-based production fees (one-time licensing for films), exhibition venue licensing and partnerships for the Antarctica experience, and professional-services revenue from bigprod for intermittent workforce management. The go-to-market is direct enterprise field sales with portfolio-led acquisition, and the pricing model is quote-based and not publicly disclosed. The company remains privately held under the Mehrangarh Group structure with no external institutional investors identified.

Name

ASTER

Legal name

Aster

Website

https://aster-production.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ASTER is a Lyon-based French audiovisual production company, founded in 1992 and part of the Mehrangarh Group, producing environmental documentaries, corporate films, the Antarctica immersive exhibition, and the bigprod platform for intermittent workforce management, serving enterprise clients and broadcasters.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Audiovisual Production Services

NAICS

Other Performing Arts Companies (711190), Convention and Trade Show Organizers (561920)

SIC

Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)

akta.pro primary industry

Corporate Event Production & AV Services (HSACADAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Staging, Scenic & Set Fabrication (Stages, Backdrops, Scenic Builds) (THAHAEAC)

Keywords

• Audiovisual production
• Documentary filmmaking
• Corporate video production
• Immersive exhibition design
• Production management software

Headquarters

HQ city

Lyon

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Audiovisual and Film Production: Production of documentary films, cinema features, advertising films, and television content for corporate and broadcast clients.
2. Production Management Services: Management of intermittent workers for audiovisual and event productions, handling all administrative, payroll, and contractual formalities through the bigprod platform.
3. Exhibition and Immersive Experiences: Immersive exhibitions such as Antarctica, generating revenue through venue licensing and partnership arrangements.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

ASTER is an audiovisual production company that produces documentary films, cinema features, advertising films, and television content for corporate clients, broadcasters, and cultural institutions, with a specialization in environmental and wildlife themes. The company also designs and licenses immersive exhibitions such as Antarctica and operates the proprietary bigprod online platform to manage administrative and payroll formalities for intermittent entertainment workers on behalf of production companies, communication agencies, and event professionals.

Product overview

ASTER is an audiovisual production company (Société de production audiovisuelle) based in Lyon, France, founded in 1992. The company operates as a multi-service production house offering cinema, television, and advertising film production, with a focus on environmental and sustainable development themes. ASTER's portfolio includes feature films co-produced with renowned directors like Luc Jacquet, the internationally successful immersive exhibition 'Antarctica,' and documentary productions. The company also provides production management services through its proprietary bigprod online platform for managing freelance entertainment workers. In 2021, ASTER merged with Wild-Touch Production to strengthen its audiovisual and cinematic capabilities. The company operates as part of the Mehrangarh communication group.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cinema, Television and Advertising Film Production End-to-end audiovisual production services covering concept-to-delivery for documentary films, feature-length cinema, television content, and advertising films for corporate and broadcast clients, with a thematic specialization in environmental and sustainable development subjects.
• Antarctica Immersive Exhibition Immersive exhibition experience that takes visitors on a multi-sensory expedition to Antarctica through curated visual and audio content sourced from ASTER's documentary productions, licensed to museums and cultural venues for public viewing.
• bigprod Production Management Platform Online platform that handles end-to-end administrative, contractual, payroll, and invoicing workflows for intermittent entertainment workers on behalf of production companies, communication agencies, and event professionals seeking to reduce compliance overhead.
• Terra Incognita Exhibition Documentary-themed exhibition format featuring curated footage from ASTER's field productions across global destinations, presented as a destination-driven exhibition experience for cultural venues.

Quantifiable outcome

• Antarctica exhibition reached 800,000+ visitors
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Wild-Touch ProductioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Aster and Wild-Touch Production merged in 2021 to strengthen their audiovisual talents and cinematic know-how. Both companies had collaborated on productions including Il Était Une Forêt and La Glace et le Ciel.
• Mehrangarh GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2011Aster is the second company to join the Mehrangarh communication group in 2011, after bigbang and before Kineka, Imag'in and Wild-touch. Mehrangarh manages Aster and its sister agencies from Besançon headquarters.
• France TélévisionmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing production partnership since early 1990s, beginning with the Faune et Nature collection. France Télévision is a key broadcast partner for Aster's documentary productions.
• Canal+majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFirst collaboration in early 1990s for the Faune et Nature collection. Canal+ has been a key broadcast partner for Aster's animal documentary productions.
• Musée des ConfluencesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConception and co-creation of the Antarctica immersive exhibition with the Musée des Confluences in Lyon. The exhibition was designed specifically for and with the museum.
• Luc JacquetcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing collaboration with Oscar-winning filmmaker Luc Jacquet since 1996. Co-produced Il Était Une Forêt (2013) and La Glace et le Ciel (2015). Jacquet is a committed environmental filmmaker known for March of the Penguins.
• WILD TOUCHcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-production partnership for Il Était Une Forêt (2013) and La Glace et le Ciel (2015), along with Bonne Pioche and Eskwad respectively. Merged with Aster in 2021.
• Bonne PiocheminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-production partner for Il Était Une Forêt (2013) documentary film.
• ESKWADminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-production partner for La Glace et le Ciel (2015) alongside Wild-Touch.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Bonne Pioche: Bonne Pioche is a French independent production company specializing in documentary films and television, and was a co-production partner with ASTER on Il Était Une Forêt (2013). It is directly comparable as a French doc-focused independent producer serving similar broadcasters and audiences.
• Saint Thomas Productions: Saint Thomas Productions is a French documentary and factual production house with a broad slate spanning adventure, science, and history. It is a direct comparator to ASTER in competing for French public broadcaster commissions and producing premium factual entertainment.
• Gedeon Programmes: Gedeon Programmes is a major French independent production company with a strong documentary and adventure/wildlife slate. It is directly comparable to ASTER as a similarly positioned French indie competing for the same broadcaster commissions and wildlife/environmental storytelling projects.
• Elephant Doc: Elephant Doc is a French documentary production company focused on wildlife, environment, and adventure programming. It is a directly comparable peer to ASTER given its overlapping editorial niche, similar client roster of French broadcasters, and comparable independent production structure.
• ZED (Zed Production): ZED is a French independent production company producing documentary and factual programming across history, nature, and science for French and international broadcasters. It competes directly with ASTER for documentary commissions from Canal+, France Télévisions, and Arte.
• Luc Jacquet / Wild-Touch (post-merger combined entity): Wild-Touch merged into ASTER in 2021; the combined entity now operates as a single producer. From a pre-merger comparability standpoint, Wild-Touch was the closest direct peer — an Oscar-winning filmmaker-led documentary house producing environmental cinema that competed with ASTER for talent and commissions before integration.

Others

• Musée des Confluences (Lyon): The Musée des Confluences in Lyon is ASTER's primary cultural-institution partner, co-creator of the Antarctica immersive exhibition. It is comparable as a key channel/distribution partner enabling ASTER's exhibition revenue and IP monetization beyond broadcast.

Broad incumbents

• Mediawan: Mediawan is a large French independent media group producing scripted, documentary, and entertainment content across multiple production labels. It is a broad incumbent competitor to ASTER, offering documentary capacity through subsidiaries but at a much larger scale and with a wider content portfolio.
• Banijay Group: Banijay is one of the largest global independent content producers and distributors, with a sizeable French factual and documentary presence. It is a broad incumbent peer to ASTER, competing for the same commissions but operating across many more genres, territories, and IP formats.

Regional players

• France Télévisions Distribution: France Télévisions is ASTER's principal French public broadcasting partner and the dominant commissioner of French-language documentary content. While not a direct producer competitor at the same scale, its commissioning priorities set the demand environment in which ASTER operates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC8gbEQ-td-JPLuOXgcIpzlQ
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aster-production

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ASTER