Blue Ant Media unveiled a strategic repositioning of Blue Ant Studios on Wednesday, introducing what it’s calling “a genre-based operating model,” in addition to streamlined studio branding, and a restructured senior leadership team.
The changes follow Blue Ant’s recent acquisitions of Thunderbird Entertainment and Boat Rocker Studios.
Blue Ant Studios will continue to be led by Co-Presidents Mark Bishop and Matt Hornburg, with Hornburg overseeing content strategy, development, and production, and Bishop leading content monetization, rights, and commercial strategy.
Under the new structure – which the company says “aligns creative leadership and commercial execution more closely across the studio ecosystem” – Blue Ant Studios will be organized around “genre-based centres of expertise, reflecting how content is developed, financed, and produced” for the global market.
Kids, Family & YA will be led by Jennifer Twiner McCarron, reporting to Hornburg. McCarron’s portfolio will encompass scripted, animation, and youth-focused content. Atomic Cartoons and Jam Filled Entertainment will continue to operate under their established brands, with McCarron’s direct reports to include Joel Bradley, President, Atomic; Lori McIndoe, President, Jam Filled; Tori Coulthart, EVP, Production, Jam Filled; and Lindsay MacAdam, who’ll continue to lead and grow the scripted business on behalf of Blue Ant.
Blue Ant Studios’ Unscripted division will combine the company’s factual and lifestyle expertise into a single, unified group, with an eye to providing a more streamlined approach to engaging with buyers, financing content, and supporting long-running and returning series across factual, lifestyle, and documentary programming.
The Unscripted team will be led by Cathie James, who takes on an expanded role as Executive Vice President, Content, alongside Lesia Capone, who grows her remit as Executive Vice President, Production. Both will report to Hornburg.
As part of the changes, the Great Pacific Media brand and ProperTV brand will sunset. Great Pacific CEO David Way will depart the organization to take on advisory and consulting work.
Blue Ant Studios’ third stream will be anchored by Insight Productions, with John Brunton continuing as CEO, reporting to Hornburg. Blue Ant said Insight will continue to be focused on premium entertainment, including large scale franchises and reality competition series.
“This new structure sets Blue Ant Studios up for the next phase of growth,” said Hornburg, in a company announcement. “Organizing around genre-based creative leadership allows us to develop and produce more ambitious slates, move more efficiently, and better support creators and partners as we build shows and franchises designed to travel globally.”
Expanded Blue Ant Rights Capabilities
The company has also announced an expansion of its distribution arm, Blue Ant Rights, adding to its capabilities in kids and family sales, licensing, and consumer products across all genres. Joining the Rights team are Richard Goldsmith, EVP, Kids & Family Sales and Brands, and Vienna Downes, Director, Consumer Products & Licensing. Both will report to Bishop.
With the acquisition of Thunderbird, the company says it’s added an additional 1,100 hours of content to its catalog, bringing the total to more than 9,000 hours.
“As the scale and diversity of our portfolio continues to grow, so does the opportunity to expand how we monetize our IP,” added Bishop. “Expanding our rights, licensing, and consumer products capabilities allows us to capture more value from our IP and accelerate commercial growth internationally.”
