CAPA (Chabalier & Associates Press Agency) is a French press agency and production company founded on August 1, 1989, by Hervé Chabalier. It is the largest production company for television reports and documentaries in France.[1] The firm, which is part of Newen since 2011,[2] produces about 150 hours of documentaries and television reports every year. It has 3 subsidiaries: CAPA Presse, CAPA Corporate and CAPA Drama.
CAPA gained visibility in the 90's with the TV program 24 Heures, broadcast on Canal +. The show marks a new kind of offbeat journalism in France: as Hervé Chabalier explained it to Les Inrocks, in 2009 :"A channel had never delegated news gathering to an external company before".[3]
Since then, CAPA notably produced L'Effet Papillon, from 2006 to 2018, and often collaborates to the direction and production of Envoyé Spécial, Spécial Investigation, Des Racines et des Ailes, Infrarouge, 66 minutes, and Pièces à conviction.
Over the years, the group diversified, notably in fiction, with the creation of its subsidiary CAPA Drama. CAPA Drama produces Versailles, a TV show known as the most expensive French TV Show of all.
In 2007, the reporter Marc Garmirian is sent to Chad by CAPA Presse to investigate on the association L’Arche de Zoé and its controversial operation “Rescue Children”.[4] Garmirian was arrested by the authorities and spent 11 days in prison[5] with a few other humanitarians before getting back to France.
In June 2018, the two journalists, Sebastian Perez Pezzani and Didier Barral, who were making an investigation in Venezuela for “Caméléon”, a documentary series produced by CAPA Presse for the French channel 13ème Rue, got arrested by the venezuelan police.[6] Both of them spent 10 days in prison before being released with the help of the French embassy.
In 2019, Netflix and CAPA Drama released Osmosis, the TV streaming’s second French original show.[7]
CAPA notably received 3 Albert Londres Prize and 2 International Emmy Awards in fiction and documentary.[8]
In February, 2010, Hervé Chabalier, CAPA main shareholder, sold 60% of his stakes to Newen.
In 2015, TF1 bought Newen.[2]
In February 2016, Philippe Levasseur – ex reporter and documentaries author – is named chief executive of CAPA Presse.[9]
Best Documentary – International Emmy Awards – 1990
Albert Londres award – 1990
Nominated for Best Documentary – International Emmy Awards 1993
Social and political documentary award – BANFF 1993
Albert Londres award – 1993
Grand Prix – FIGRA – 2000
Best documentary award – BANFF – 2000
Albert Londres award – 2006
Grand Prix / Public Award – FIGRA – 2007
Best International Investigative Documentary – NYIFF – 2009
Jury Special Award – FIGRA – 2012
Jury Special Award – FIGRA – 2013
Nomination Social Issues / Current Affairs – Realscreen Awards – 2017
Nomination Social & Investigative - BANFF Rockie Awards – 2017
Nomination Best Documentary - International Emmy Awards – 2017
