Burbank, Ca - July 19, 2016 – FremantleMedia North America (FMNA) announced today the acquisition of Random House Studio, formerly part of trade book publisher Penguin Random House. FMNA and China-based Meridian Entertainment have also entered into a partnership where FMNA will oversee all television adaptations from Random House Studio and Meridian will operate and grow the studio’s theatrical slate. The Random House Studio acquisition provides FMNA and Meridian greater access to some of the world’s most talented authors, and the facility to adapt for film and television worldwide.
Craig Cegielski, co-CEO, FremantleMedia North America, said “Peter Gethers and the entire team at Random House Studio are literary visionaries, and the adroit Jennifer Dong and her team at Meridian have built a vibrant company that is well-positioned globally. Our collective ambitions enable us to further harness the voice of the authors, engaging them in all stages of their adaptation and bringing their vision to every media platform worldwide.”
Meridian’s founder and Chairman Jennifer Dong said, “It is a great privilege to establish such a close partnership with FremantleMedia and their Random House Studio. FremantleMedia is one of the world’s most successful creators and producers of original television programming and entertainment brands, reaching into more than fifty countries. This partnership is a breakthrough for Meridian’s global strategy and marks a milestone in our international expansion. Meridian has the determination, strength and ability to make full use of the rich and varied content that FremantleMedia and Random House Studio can provide and we will also explore the great potential of the vast Chinese market for our new partners. We look forward to working closely with Co-CEOs Craig Cegielski, Jennifer Mullin and their team at FremantleMedia North America, as well as their team within Random House Studio, led by Peter Gethers. We cannot wait to provide the global audience with more films that mirror the enormous range of critically acclaimed content under their purview.”
Peter Gethers, EVP and GM, Random House Studio, said “The Random House Studio team has been working with the current team at FMNA for two years now. Thanks to their creativity and support, it has been a perfect partnership. I am thrilled that we will now be a part of that team, allowing us to work even closer together and helping us grow. We’re thrilled that FMNA has found such an accomplished strategic partner in Meridian Entertainment to oversee our theatrical output and take us to new heights. Led by the extraordinary Jennifer Dong, Meridian has proven to be the innovative partners we’ve been looking for. Random House Studio is now truly a full-fledged studio, able to move in any direction that is appropriate to the material we find."
The new partnership will give Meridian full access to develop, finance and produce Random House Studio’s theatrical projects. The partnership will also spread into ongoing collaborations on a broad array of ambitions, expanding the range and strengths of both companies. The Random House Studio team will be bi-coastal, with the Los Angeles-based executives housed in the FremantleMedia North America offices and New York-based executives in the Penguin Random House headquarters, close to the authors and publishing community. By fully developing and producing the source material in house, the now combined teams of FMNA, Random House Studio and Meridian Entertainment are able to nurture the creative vision of the authors by giving them a direct voice in the adaptation of their source material. Peter Gethers will continue to lead the Random House Studio division as EVP and GM, reporting into Craig Cegielski, co-CEO, FremantleMedia North America and working with Jennifer Dong, Founder and Chairman, Meridian Entertainment, on the theatrical slate. Gethers will also continue his role as Editor-at-Large, Penguin Random House.
Working with the authors’ agents and with Penguin Random House publishers and editors, Random House Studio will continue to identify appropriate forthcoming and previously published adult and children’s fiction and nonfiction books whose performance rights are available and can be acquired for scripted and unscripted film and television adaptation worldwide. All projects currently in development or production with Random House Studio will move over with the company to FMNA, including Random House Studio’s ongoing relationship with Jupiter Entertainment in unscripted television. Current projects with Jupiter include: No god but God by Reza Aslan; The Knowledge, based on the book by Lewis Dartnell; and God Made Me Do It, being developed with the author Jonathan Merritt.
Ongoing scripted projects in development and production at Random House Studio include: Loving Day, based on the book by Mat Johnson, sold as a half-hour series to Showtime; a television movie about the life of Rachel Carson sold to HBO; What Remains, an original script by Ryan Scott; and Team Life, an original script by Tracey Jackson. In Children’s programming, the team is developing the series of Junie B. Jones books, written by the late Barbara Park and being adapted by Allison Gregory.
In feature films, Meridian will now oversee the slate Random House Studio is currently developing including: The Silent Land with Focus Features, based on the novel by Graham Joyce; Longbourn with Studio Canal, based on the novel by Jo Baker; and City of Light, based on the non-fiction book Death in the City of Light by David King, co-produced with Anne Carey, Jawal Nga, and Film Wave.
The addition of Random House Studio and the partnership with Meridian Entertainment further positions FMNA as a dominant content creator, provider and distributor across scripted and unscripted genres globally. The Random House Studio acquisition follows the recent expansion of FMNA’s scripted business with the highly-anticipated upcoming release of American Gods, an adaptation of the best-selling novel by Neil Gaiman. In unscripted, the company entered the summer with the most series on primetime broadcast television by tapping into their vast library of game show formats, rebooting Match Game and To Tell The Truth, and returning with the second installment of Celebrity Family Feud. FMNA also continues to top the summer for the 11th year in a row with their juggernaut hit, America’s Got Talent.
ABOUT MERIDIAN ENTERTAINMENT
Meridian Entertainment is an emerging content platform in the Asia-Pacific region, that is Beijing-based and launched in 2013. Owning rich production resources, Meridian has been delving into cultural and creative industries domestically and globally. Since its inception, the company has invested in, and produced, Chinese language films such as Mojin: The Lost Legend (2015) and Running Man (2015); both films set multiple box office records in China and left an indelible mark on Chinese film history. In May 2015, Meridian entered into a first-look agreement with former Focus Features CEO James Schamus and his New York-based production company, Symbolic Exchange. To date, Meridian has financed and co-produced two English language feature films, Casting JonBenet and A Prayer Before Dawn. Based on true stories, both films reflect Meridian’s attitude toward filmmaking, as well as, its corporate slogan: "share the beauty of the mind.”
ABOUT FREMANTLEMEDIA NORTH AMERICA
FremantleMedia North America (FMNA) is a premier content studio. FMNA and its portfolio of companies, including Random House Studio, Original Productions and 495 Productions, create entertaining and innovative scripted and alternative programs for network, cable, syndicated and digital partners. Its diverse, critically-acclaimed and award-winning slate includes America’s Got Talent (NBC), Family Feud (SYN), Let’s Make A Deal (CBS), The Price Is Right (CBS), The Great Christmas Light Fight (ABC), Deadliest Catch (Discovery), Jay Leno’s Garage (CNBC) Married to Medicine (Bravo), Blue Collar Millionaires (CNBC), Ice Road Truckers (HISTORY), Storage Wars (A&E), Celebrity Family Feud (ABC), Celebrity Name Game (SYN), To Tell The Truth (ABC), Match Game (ABC), Hollyweed (Independent) and American Gods (STARZ), among others. FMNA also operates BUZZR, a retro game show network that launched in 2015, and is available in the top 10 U.S. markets, and 65 percent of the country.
FMNA is the U.S. arm of global media giant FremantleMedia, which includes a distribution arm, FremantleMedia International, a digital and branded entertainment division and a kids & family entertainment business. As one of the world’s largest and most successful creators, producers and distributors of TV brands in the world, FremantleMedia’s comprehensive global network has operations in 31 countries, creating over 10,000 hours of programming a year, rolling out more than 45 formats and managing over 350 individual titles. The company also distributes more than 20,000 hours of content in over 200 territories. For more information follow us @FMNATV and visit our Facebook page.
Press Contacts:
Christine Shaw
SVP, Communications & Marketing
FremantleMedia North America
818-748-1148
Christine.shaw@fremantlemedia.com
Kate Rosenbaum for Meridian Entertainment
SLATE PR
310.461.0115
kate@slate-pr.com
From:
http://www.fremantlemedia.com/fmna-acquires-random-house-studio-and-partners-with-meridian-entertainment/
