Content Group acquires Collins Avenue

Dance Moms

LA-based collective The Content Group has acquired Dance Moms producer Collins Avenue Entertainment from Kew Media Group.

The acquisition, financial terms of which were not disclosed, is the first by TCG, part of Asylum Entertainment Group, since being launched in 2018 by producer Steve Michaels.

Under the deal, The Content Group will retain all of Collins Avenue’s physical assets, IP, contracts and key staff, including senior VP of development Lindsay Schwartz.

It comes after Dance Moms executive producer Jeff Collins left Collins Avenue, which became part of Kew in 2017, earlier this month.

Kew Media has recently run into trouble and is currently undergoing a strategic review that could result in a sale or a merger with another party, with a buy-out by private equity investors looking likely.

The Content Group and Asylum Entertainment Group, meanwhile, will add Collins Avenue to their roster of companies, which include international scripted drama-focused Clovis Entertainment and scripted and unscripted podcast producer Audity.

The acquisition will give Schwartz and her team the freedom to expand into every genre, according to The Content Group, whose president, Jodi Flynn, will oversee the company.

The Content Group and Asylum Entertainment Group CEO Michaels said: “Acquisitions are an integral part of our strategy as we continue to step forward in building a diversified content business. Collins Avenue is a perfect fit for our company.”

Michael P. Weisberg at Brutzkus Gubner, LLP, advised The Content Group over the transaction. The collective also houses production label Asylum Entertainment, originally founded by Michaels in 2003 and sold to Legendary in 2014, with Michaels becoming sole owner again in 2018.