Peter Chernin Founds Global Creator Studio North Road, Pays $200M for Red Arrow Studios’ US Assets and Land, Larger Acquisitions with Million-Dollar Funds

Peter Chernin founded The North Road Company, a global content studio that will merge Chernin Entertainment’s US assets, Red Arrow Studios. dear blind Produced by Kinetic Content and Conor Shelley’s unwritten company Words + Pictures.

The move paid off after Fox’s former boss paid $200 million for Red Arrow’s US businesses, including Kinetic Content, the production company behind The Circus Left/Right, and 44 Blue Productions, the company behind Netflix. . The afterlife with Tyler Henry Say Yes a dress Produced by Half Yard and alaska building He produced for Dorsey Pictures.

The new company will have access to hundreds of millions of dollars in funding from Providence Equity Partners and Apollo for future acquisitions, and will open a London office with Ian Frowman, former President and CEO of Red Arrow Studios, which Deadline says is joining the company. earlier this year. . and former AMC Networks executive Christine Jones.

Chernin, who named the new conglomerate after the street where she lives in Martha’s Vineyard, told Deadline she believes it is “a great opportunity to create an important company.” “Unfortunately, I am not a pure artist. I am a commercial animal and my decision is based on how I get the maximum result. He will serve as President and CEO of North Road.

In addition to buying the assets of Red Arrow, Chernin also bought a previously unowned 50% stake in Words + Pictures. The company was founded by former ESPN content executive Connor Scheel, who produces series such as: DO: Made in America Y Last Dancelast year.

Shelley, who will continue to run Words + Pictures, will now oversee North Road’s new unscripted business.

As president of Chernin Entertainment, he will be part of North Road’s leadership team, which includes Chernin’s former lieutenant Geno Topping, who will oversee the scripted film and television business.

Chris Collen, who manages Kinetic Content and is said to have signed a new deal, Ken Druckerman and Banks Tarver, who runs Left/Right, Stefani and Rasha Drachkovic, who runs 44 Blue, and former Red Arrow executives like Dirk Hoogstra. Managing Director Chris Dorsey, founder of Half Yard and Dorsey Pictures, will also continue to run the production business.

Jesse Jacobs, one of the founders of Chernin Entertainment, is a board member of North Road.

Fruman becomes president of North Road and participates in the company’s international expansion plans, along with Jones, who is appointed head of international television.

Red Arrow, producer of German media giant ProSiebenSat.1, was selling only US assets, not the European group that includes Amazon’s Endor Productions behind the Neil Gaiman series. anansi guys Y A league of its own Manufactured by CPL.

But Chernin and his team are on the lookout for more acquisitions around the world. “A big part of that is our belief that there are great opportunities on our part internationally. That’s why we’re looking at additional international acquisitions.”

North Road is looking at a mix of written and unwritten companies with a “slight bias” to scenarios outside of the United States and has started initial talks with a number of potential acquisitions. We believe that international production will increase.” “It generates opportunities. We know how to manage production on a large scale, which is what many people make noise about what they do. [have not]”

The expansion of the new company (expected to be worth more than a billion dollars with about 70 of North Road’s showrooms in production) will be supported by two independent financial banks.

Chernin’s longtime partner, Providence Equity Partners, is investing $500 million in equity to support the North Road expansion, and Apollo Advisors has raised $300 million in debt financing through its managed subsidiaries.

“The reason we raise the money is we don’t need the money, we have more than enough money to run the business and frankly we are growing the business because we believe there is a tremendous opportunity to grow it. even more.” aggressively, which is why we partnered with Providence and Apollo to raise additional capital. This capital is used for business development. Not because I’m altruistic, but because I know there is a great opportunity right now to create economic value. A very profitable business. We have a company and we believe we will make it much more profitable as we continue to grow.

Chernin, who was president and CEO of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp from 1996 to 2009 and chairman and CEO of Fox Group, isn’t worried that the spread of the cost-plus business model in publishing or vertical integration will make things harder. . earn money.

“I think everybody knows that no one can deliver 100% of their programming and that having the highest quality, most commercial programming is far more important to them than where it comes from. We think we’re going to deliver that to them,” he said. The big three historical programming providers no longer supply to third parties. They certainly like to buy a lot of things. But obviously they can’t buy everything from themselves. Then there is a real shortage in the supplier market when they look for other things to buy and other high quality ones. We think we can share some of that.”

North Road was notified of the deal by Centerview Partners and Moelis & Company and was represented by Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. Red Arrow advised Morgan Stanley. Recommended by Words + Pictures, Sidley Austin.