Former eOne executives John Morayniss, Patrice Theroux, Jeff Lynas and Nelson Kuo-Lee have reunited to launch new content venture, Blink Studios.
Backed by Endeavor Content as the venture’s anchor investor, lead strategic and priority distribution partner, Blink Studios will be headquartered in Toronto with offices in Los Angeles. It will operate as a full-service, independent studio focused on development, production and monetization of scripted and unscripted content for the global market.
In a company announcement, the studio said it plans to deploy a significant portion of its capital to make investments in Canadian production companies, focusing on both scripted and unscripted programming across all genres and formats. Blink also plans to put deals in place with writers, creators, and producers, as well as “aggressively pursue” IP in Canada and around the world.
“I am beyond delighted and energized to be partnering with my former colleagues, Patrice, Jeff and Nelson, in this new media enterprise,” said Morayniss, in a release. “And, of course, we couldn’t be more excited about launching Blink Studios with the commitment and support of Endeavor Content as our lead strategic investor. When we first began our discussions with Chris and Graham, we felt that there was an immediate understanding and alignment as to why we were so passionate about building a world-class Canadian indie and how we were going to achieve success with a new and improved creative-first approach and strategy. And, with Kirstine and Chris joining our board, we have some of the best strategic minds in the business. We can’t wait to get going!”
Morayniss will lead the studio as its CEO, with Patrice Theroux as Executive Vice Chair, Nelson Kuo-Lee as CFO and Jeff Lynas as COO.
The former head of television at Alliance Atlantis, Morayniss previously co-founded Canadian indie Blueprint Entertainment in 2002, which was acquired by eOne in 2008. He went on to serve as CEO of eOne TV for a decade. Theroux was the former CEO of Alliance Films and eOne’s President of Film and Television from 2007-14. Lynas was responsible for the day-to-day operations of eOne Television for a decade, while Kuo-Lee served as Executive Vice-President of eOne’s Film and Television business and also held COO and CFO roles before departing in early 2020.
Additionally, Blink Studios says former CBC executive and Twitter VP Kirstine Stewart has been appointed as Non-Executive Chair of the Board of Directors. Chris Rice, Co-President of Endeavor Content, will also join the Blink board.
The studio says it’s in the process of assembling its creative and production team and will be announcing key hires in the coming weeks.
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