Munich (ots) –
. Strengthens the Group's production foothold in the world's
largest production market
. Partners the Group with an award-winning production company with
long-standing relationships to US networks
. Leverages a strong management team with excellent creative and
commercial skills
. Positions Red Arrow as a leading supplier of high-quality
factual content to the global market
. Drives Red Arrow's distribution business by accessing US formats
with hit potential
Red Arrow Entertainment Group today announced the acquisition of a majority shareholding in Left/Right, a multi award-winning independent TV production company. Founded in 2005 by Banks Tarver and Ken Druckerman, Left/Right has grown to become one of the most successful production companies on the East Coast. To date, Left/Right has produced over 300 hours of TV programming across a diverse range of genres, from docu-soap to documentary, competition to celeb-reality, serious fare to seriously funny, and everything in between. The company’s broad production slate ranges from three-time Emmy Award-winning TV adaptation “This American Life” for Showtime, to breakout hit series “Mob Wives” for VH1, to “Home By Novogratz” for HGTV, to “Small Town Security” for AMC.
Banks Tarver and Ken Druckerman, who will continue to lead the company going forward, have spent numerous years in factual and reality TV production. Banks developed and oversaw the hit factual series “True Life” for MTV and supervised and produced many of MTV’s pro-social documentaries while on staff at MTV. Ken worked on critically acclaimed factual series and feature documentaries such as “Frontline” (PBS), while also producing and directing reality shows for networks such as AE and Discovery. The partners first came together while working as freelance showrunners on the hit series “Growing Up Gotti,” (AE), and started Left/Right soon thereafter. Seven years and hundreds of hours of television later, the partners can point with pride to a diverse client base and a ridiculously eclectic mix of projects that gives meaning to the name: the company’s projects span the creative spectrum from Left…to Right.
Ken and Banks are supported by a strong management team, including SVP and Head of Production Kevin Vargas (who has been with the company since its inception), SVP and Head of Development Anneka Jones (previously with MTV’s News Docs division), SVP and Head of Current Production Nina Diaz (show runner on “Mob Wives” and creator of hit series such as “My Super Sweet 16” and “Cribs”), and Head of Post Production, Mike Mezaros (who handles all aspects of the company’s advanced editorial workflow).
Jan Frouman, Group Managing Director of Red Arrow, said: “This is a really significant and exciting step for us. Not only have Ken and Banks proven themselves to be a ‘rock-star’ team – but we are also dramatically expanding our presence in the US. The deal has all the elements we prioritize: great people, a key territory, a stellar track record, and a strong group fit.”
Ken Druckerman, Founder Co-President of Left/Right, added: “We had been looking for an international partner who could help Left/Right with its desire to expand internationally, and we could not have found a better partner than the Red Arrow group. We have been incredibly impressed with their professional approach, and their portfolio of production companies and like-minded producers.”
Banks Tarver, Founder Co-President of Left/Right, says “We are thrilled to join forces with Red Arrow, as it allows us to ‘globalize’ our approach to the television marketplace, and to develop and produce new ideas and formats from around the world. The partnership will strengthen our core unscripted television business, while presenting us with a platform to develop new opportunities in scripted television and other new areas as well.”
Left/Right was advised by About Corporate Finance, specialist investment bank advisors to the TV production industry.
About Red Arrow Entertainment Group
Launched in January 2010 as a ProSiebenSat.1 Group company, Red Arrow Entertainment Group comprises 18 dynamic TV production companies across 9 countries, powerful global creative partnerships, including Dick de Rijk (“You Deserve It”; “Deal or No Deal”), and leading program distribution house, Red Arrow International.
Boasting a broad and diverse content portfolio covering, among others, entertainment, reality, factual, scripted series, TV movies, telenovelas, and magazines, Red Arrow has created and produced more than 50 formats and sold programs into more than 130 countries, including “Off Their Rockers” (NBC), “You Deserve It” and “The Taste” (ABC), “My Man Can” (Sat.1, ITV, Jiangsu Satellite), “Body Brain” (Mediaset), “Danni Lowinski” (VTM, The CW), “League of Their Own” (Sky), “MrMrs” (ITV).
For more information about Red Arrow Entertainment Group, please visit: www.redarrow.tv
About Left/Right
Left/Right is an award-winning producer of unscripted television programming. We create television and film projects are both honest and surprising, revealing and entertaining, dramatic and cinematic. We do so by blending the conventions of documentary filmmaking with the look and feel of scripted television. Our talents and tastes are as diverse as our production slate: past and present series range from “This American Life,” the Emmy Award- winning television adaptation of the popular public radio show (for Showtime)…to “Mob Wives,” the breakout hit series for VH1 about a group of women who are married to the mob…to “Small Town Security” (AMC), a real-life series about some of the unreal characters whom you’ve ever met…to “Home By Novogratz,” the highly-rated HGTV series that focuses on a New York family’s wildly creative and totally original home designs. In addition to television series, the company’s documentary unit produces specials and feature documentaries for networks such as Discovery, History, PBS, and many others. In only six years, Left/Right series have been nominated for 12 prime time Emmy Awards and have won multiple awards, including the Emmy for Best Nonfiction Series. Our clients include leading television networks such as AE, AMC, Bravo, Lifetime, VH1, HGTV, History, Animal Planet, Spike, Style, Showtime, and many others. Ken Druckerman and Banks Tarver are the co-founders and co- presidents of the company, which is based in New York City.
For further information about Left/Right, please visit: www.leftright.tv
Pressekontakt:
Stefanie Prinz Corporate Communications ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG Medienallee 7 D-85774 Unterföhring Tel. +49 (89) 9507 1199 Facsimile +49 (89) 9507 91199 Stefanie.Prinz@ProSiebenSat1.com