AMC Networks said it has made an investment in Shaftesbury, the Canadian production company behind Murdoch Mysteries and other popular titles on AMC’s Acorn TV streaming service.
The deal gives AMC additional access to Toronto-based Shaftesbury’s content and expands its development capabilities in Canada.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
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Christina Jennings, CEO of Shaftesbury, will continue to lead the company. Jennings and two others from Shaftesbury will remain on the company’s board, joined by two directors from AMC. The new directors are Harold Gronenthal, executive VP of programming and marketing for AMC Networks International, and Matt Graham, GM of Acorn TV.
“Christina has built a world class production company with a long track record and reputation for creating high quality content that resonates in markets around the world,” said Josh Sapan, AMC Networks president and CEO. “Shaftesbury is an ideal partner for AMC Networks as we expand our focus on sourcing premium content and IP for distribution across our own platforms as well as to third parties. In addition, this partnership will give AMC Networks enhanced capabilities to expand our productions in Canada.”
In addition to the shows streaming on Acorn TV, Shaftesbury produces Departure for Global/Corus Entertainment, Peacock and NBCUniversal, Frankie Drake Mysteries for CBS and UKTV, Slasher on AMC’s Shudder and Hudson & Rex for Citytv/Rogers.
“This new partnership will leverage the broad expertise of AMC Networks and Shaftesbury to deliver significant growth opportunities for the development, production, distribution and reach of our content,” said Jennings. “Getting Canadian stories and creative talent in front of the international market has always been Shaftesbury’s mission – this relationship will give us a big leg up.”
