Blumhouse launches its own independent television studio along with ITV Studios and announces two new TV series with The Purge, based on the hit movies, and Secure and Hold: The Last Days of Roger Alies.
The Purge, co-produced with Universal Cable Productions, continues the ongoing and successful Universal Pictures film franchise from creator James DeMonaco for both USA and Syfy. The series will be an entirely new chapter in America’s 12 hours of annual lawlessness, and in a unique arrangement, the cross genre show will air on USA and Syfy. The next Purge movie is set to be released next year.
Secure and Hold: The Last Days of Roger Ailes is a limited series collaboration between Oscar Winner Tom McCarthy and acclaimed journalist Gabe Sherman, about Roger Ailes, for Showtime.
Official announcement:
Blumhouse today announces the launch of an independent television studio with ITV Studios acquiring a 45 per cent stake. With this investment Blumhouse Television becomes an independent television studio and will continue its growth by financing and producing original scripted and unscripted ‘dark’ genre programming for global audiences.
The independent studio has been established by Jason Blum’s Blumhouse, the renowned film and television company. Blumhouse’s film division, which is in the midst of a ten year deal with Universal Pictures, has produced movies which have grossed over $2.8 billion at the worldwide theatrical box-office including the recent hits Split from M. Night Shyamalan, Get Out from Jordan Peele, the international hit franchises The Purge, Insidious and Paranormal Activity and the Academy Award winning Whiplash.
The production company Blumhouse Television launched in 2012 and in a short period has won Emmy awards for The Jinx and The Normal Heart, produced the recently rebooted Cold Case Files on A&E and 12 Deadly Days for YouTube Red. It is also executive producing the upcoming Sharp Objects for HBO, based on Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel starring Amy Adams. In addition, Blumhouse Television has executive produced series for ABC, MTV, Syfy, GSN, WEtv and Discovery ID. With the investment from ITV Studios, Blumhouse Television will grow and scale as an independent television studio with the autonomy and resources to invest in the development and production of original content for global exploitation.
The indie studio will continue to be led by recently hired co-Presidents, Marci Wiseman and Jeremy Gold, both of whom are experienced in launching independent studios with global reach. Gold and Wiseman, who extended their long term deals as part of the partnership with ITV, will continue to report to Blum and Charles Layton, President of Blumhouse, all of whom will join ITV on the board of the independent TV company.
As the lead studio, Blumhouse Television, along with co-production partner Universal Cable Productions, is opening its writers’ room for The Purge, led by the film franchise creator James DeMonaco. Coming off of the most successful film so far, The Purge: Election Year, DeMonaco will oversee the series which will be an entirely new chapter in America’s 12 hours of annual lawlessness. In a unique arrangement, the cross genre show will air on USA and Syfy. Platinum Dunes and DeMonaco’s longtime producing partner Sebastien K. Lemercier will executive produce the series. The next Purge film, from Universal Pictures, opens in summer 2018.
Blumhouse Television is also the lead studio on Secure and Hold: The Last Days Of Roger Ailes, a limited scripted series in development at SHOWTIME based on Gabriel Sherman’s reports of Fox News founder Roger Ailes, including his New York magazine coverage and best-selling book, The Loudest Voice In The Room. Academy Award Winning Tom McCarthy (Spotlight) is shepherding the series which is also being written and co-executive produced by John Harrington Bland, Sherman and Jennifer Stahl.
Jason Blum said: “Over the past few years, we have been working to build Blumhouse Television into an independent studio so we can have the autonomy to work with the best storytellers and give them freedom to create the best dark genre programming. It is a dream that day is here. Julian and his team at ITV are remarkable partners and we can’t wait to kick things off with The Purge and Secure and Hold. We are excited that with the launch of this new studio, we are expanding our partnership with NBCUniversal by growing The Purge franchise into a television series and are grateful for their incredible support of Blumhouse overall.”
ITV Studios’ investment in Blumhouse Television forms part of ITV’s continued strategy to expand its U.S. scripted television studio operations from ITV Studios America and its partnerships with Tomorrow Studios, under the leadership of President Philippe Maigret. Blumhouse Television and ITV Studios Global Entertainment will seek to partner on the global distribution of future projects.
Julian Bellamy, Managing Director, ITV Studios said: “Jason and his team have an unrivalled reputation in the suspense and thriller genres, delivering hit after hit at the US and international box office. They have very quickly established an enviable track record by applying these skills to television and we are delighted to come on board for the next stage of the company’s exciting development. This partnership is another step forward in ITV Studios building a global scripted business of scale.”
Wiseman and Gold said: “We joined Blumhouse Television to help Jason, Charles and the team transform the company into an independent studio and we are grateful to be well on our way. We are excited to build on the Blumhouse brand for genre storytelling by creating scripted and unscripted shows that scare us, thrill us and move us. At Blumhouse Television, we are not just telling stories about monsters under the bed, but also the things that keep us awake at night.”
Blum is an Academy Award-nominated and two-time Emmy and Peabody Award-winning producer. His multi-media company, Blumhouse Productions, pioneered a new model of studio filmmaking: producing high-quality micro-budget films. Blumhouse began its model with the original Paranormal Activity, which was made for $15,000 and grossed close to $200 million worldwide, making it the most profitable film in Hollywood. Blum received the Producer of the Year Award at CinemaCon in 2016. Before Blumhouse, Blum served as co-head of the Acquisitions and Co-Productions department at Miramax Films.
Gold joined Blumhouse from Endemol Shine Studios where he was Executive Vice President and introduced Endemol USA into the scripted television space with shows like Hell on Wheels, Low Winter Sun and Kingdom. Prior to joining Endemol, Gold held senior positions at both 20th Century Fox TV and FOX Broadcasting Company, where he developed many new series including Arrested Development, American Dad and The Bernie Mac Show.
As a long time executive at AMC, Wiseman launched AMC Studios, whose first series was The Walking Dead and built the model and structured the deals for AMC to grow its library of owned content with series such as Turn, Halt and Catch Fire, Rectify and Fear the Walking Dead. Prior to Blumhouse, Wiseman was the EVP, Global Production and Business Affairs at eOne Television. Before eOne and AMC, Wiseman was part of the team that launched fox21.
