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Shed Productions PLC today announces its Interim Results for the six months ended 28th February 2007. Click HERE to download a copy.
Shed Productions is joining forces with Simon Cowell to produce a major new drama series commissioned by ITV.
The drama, ROCK RIVALS, is a fictional look behind the scenes of a blockbuster TV talent show and Simon Cowell will be on hand to make sure the drama is as true to life as possible.
Brian Park, MD of Shed Productions, said:
“Rock Rivals has a real buzz to it and promises to be a worthy successor to Footballers’ Wives – a blitzy combination of wild characters and pacey plots set against a world of ruthless ambition.”
“We are absolutely thrilled that Simon Cowell is on board as only he can provide that unique insight of what it is like to be at the epicentre of a world-wide phenomenon.”
Simon Cowell said:
“I am very excited about this show, the idea is brilliant and Shed Productions have a proven track record of making these type of shows very popular – think X Factor meets Dallas”
Sally Haynes, Deputy Controller of ITV Drama, said:
“The ongoing appeal for this type of talent show presents a ripe opportunity for a modern fun drama that transports us backstage into the heady and fabulous extremes of the music business.”
ROCK RIVALS tells the story of two celebrity judges whose marriage falls apart and descends into a “War of the Roses” feud both on and off camera.
The series will be shot over the summer and delivered to ITV in late Autumn.
With Simon Cowell’s massive profile in the US and with Shed’s recent success in the US with two pilots in production (one of which is Footballers’ Wives) there are high hopes for a US commission from the UK format. Talks are presently taking place with US studios.
Shed Productions plc is pleased to announce the following new commissions:
• Rock Rivals: New drama of 8 hours for ITV1
• Waterloo Road: Re-commission of 20 hours for BBC1
The new ITV1 drama, Rock Rivals, an original idea created by Shed, will be made in collaboration with X Factor creator Simon Cowell's production company Syco. The drama is a fictional look behind the scenes of a major TV talent show. Shooting for Rock Rivals is scheduled to begin in the early summer.
Following Shed's success in the US where two pilots, Footballers' Wives and Nurses are presently in production, Shed is hopeful that Rock Rivals will be picked up in the US market. In the US Shed would produce the drama as a co-production with Simon Cowell. Discussions with US networks are already underway.
Rock Rivals, the UK version, will be distributed by Shed's recently acquired distribution company, Outright Distribution (formally known as Screentime Partners).
The BBC has ordered 20 hours for a third series of Waterloo Road. This represents a 67 per cent increase in the number of hours commissioned compared with series two (12 hours) and is the largest single drama commission Shed has ever received.
The revenue from the productions will fall into 2007 and 2008. The commissions are on top of the recent orders for Catwalk Dogs for ITV1, a fourth series of Supernanny USA, a new six part factual entertainment series for ABC and two drama pilots in the US for ABC and the Fox Network, with the majority of the revenues falling into 2007 and the remainder in 2008.
Shed Productions is in the late stage of development for other projects that would be made in 2007 including another peak-time drama for the BBC. Ricochet is also expecting new commissions in the UK and the US to impact on the current financial year.
Eileen Gallagher, CEO of Shed said: "We're delighted with the new commissions. Rock Rivals is an exciting drama and will be an excellent new brand for ITV. We're also thrilled to be working with Simon Cowell, which is a real coup. We're confident this new drama will strike a chord with viewers and become a long-running returning drama."
Simon Cowell said: "I am very excited about this show, the idea is brilliant and Shed Productions have a proven track record of making these type of shows very popular – think X Factor meets Dallas!"
Eileen Gallagher continued: "The re-commission of Waterloo Road is great news and to receive a 67 per cent increase in the number of episodes compared with the second series is a clear indication of its success. The ratings have continually been strong against strong opposition from ITV's The Bill, and like all Shed dramas performs particularly well amongst the valuable young audience.
"Overall we're delighted with the commissions, further reinforcing Shed's ability to continually deliver new brands and produce high quality, returnable programmes. Programme development for the Group continues to progress positively and decisions on these developments are expected from broadcasters soon."
UK based global content distribution outfit, Screentime Partners is heading into 2007 under a new corporate identity, which will more closely reflect its new strategic position after its acquisition by Shed in Autumn last year.
Screentime Partners will change its name to Outright Distribution signalling a comprehensive brand image change and a move to a new central London location to accommodate the expanding team.
Outright re-launches as a bigger player offering a full third party service to producers, with a solid, tried and tested background in commercialising formats combined with a new proven slate of finished and formatted entertainment and drama. The company currently has a 60-40 sales ratio of finished programmes to format license rights and will keep this important emphasis on formats going forward.
Outright’s expanded content portfolio, which has doubled in size to over 400 hours in the last year, comes from a number of sources:
-- the Shed Group provides a source of contemporary, original dramas (through Shed Productions) and sought-after factual entertainment series (from Ricochet),
-- a continued first-look arrangement over all entertainment and fully funded drama product from Australian-based producer Screentime.
-- and finally Outright’s most important revenue source will continue to come from its current and new relationships with third party producers such as All3 Media, Flame, Fulcrum, Luxury Unveiled Ltd, Moonbeam Films, Two Four, TV Asahi and Waddell Media.
Chris Bonney, CEO of Outright explained: ‘This re-brand is designed to give us the fresh look and feel that is in line with the enlarged business we are now developing and further reflects our enhanced offering in established territories as well as our continued push of strong UK programme brands into the far reaches of the global market. Format exploitation needs to be fully integrated into a successful international rights strategy, and along with our impressive finished programming slate, we have the knowledge and expertise to fully exploit the intellectual property of our clients’ TV content. A key next phase in our development will be to aggressively expand our third party representation.’
Outright will also begin its roll out of drama and scripted formats internationally, building on deals Shed has recently secured for flagship dramas Bad Girls and Footballers Wives on US cable networks and Outright’s recent deal for these shows in the secondary UK multichannel market, licensing the rights to Five Life.
Click HERE to download a copy of Shed's Annual Results for 2006.
Shed Productions PLC today announces
its Preliminary Results for the year ended August 31st 2006.
Click HERE to
download a copy.
Shed Productions today announces the acquisition of global distribution company, Screentime Partners. This move fulfils an important part of Shed’s strategy to bring in-house the expertise of international distribution. The initial consideration is £2.0 million, with a further £1.0 million payable dependent upon Screentime’s financial performance up to 30 June 2008.
Screentime Partners will distribute Shed and Ricochet product, including the Group’s library and formats. Working closely with Shed, Screentime Partners will also continue to grow its business with third party producers, helping them to fully exploit ancillary rights and maximise distribution strategy. Screentime Partners will continue to distribute Screentime Groups entertainment product.
Formed in 2003, Screentime Partners distributes a range of high quality entertainment programmes to broadcasters and producers worldwide. Currently, it has over 400 hours of programming in its catalogue including ‘To Catch A Thief’, ‘Ranking The Stars’, ‘What Kids Really Think’ and ‘Best Of The Worst’.
Screentime Partners has a strong presence in Australia and the Far East including China, one of the largest growing markets for content in both traditional and new media. It also has experience distributing content to some of the more difficult territories, such as the Eastern Bloc, which is an important territory often overlooked by distribution companies.
With the growth of the Shed Group’s product and as new commissions are won, the acquisition means Shed will be in a position to fully exploit the rights to all of its products and maximise distribution. Additionally, given the expertise Screentime Partners has of the global market, the Shed Group will be in a strong position to explore new media exploitation worldwide.
The acquisition also opens doors to future co-production opportunities between Shed and Screentime Group. Screentime Group’s output includes international reality formats Popstars and StripSearch.
Eileen Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer of Shed commented:
“For some time we’ve been keen to diversify into distribution. Not only do we want to maximise on distribution opportunities for the Group, we are also keen to grow third party business from other producers. We now have the talent and experience in-house to help third party producers fully exploit ancillary rights to their product and maximise on distribution strategy.
"Screentime Partners have a talented team led by Chris Bonney. They have built up a successful worldwide distribution business and we are delighted to have them on board. “
Chris Bonney, Chief Executive, Screentime Partners commented:
“The Shed Group has consistently produced sought after quality programmes that have been distributed worldwide. The growing diversity of the Shed and Ricochet output complements and greatly expands our existing portfolio with third party producers and the Screentime Group. We look forward to growing the business together."
Des Monaghan, Executive Director, Screentime Group commented:
“We are delighted by this development which we see as the start of an important relationship with the Shed Group and which we believe will present us both with some exciting collaborative opportunities”.
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