Creative dealmaking, M&A take Blue Ant International into overdrive

Global distributor Blue Ant International is prioritising creative dealmaking as it heads to Cannes with its largest ever slate and a bolstered exec team, following its acquisition of UK-based distributor Drive.

 

Blue Ant International is in “growth mode” as it heads to Mipcom with its biggest ever slate, according to Bryan Gabourie, senior VP of international sales and partnerships.

 

The distributor, which sits under Toronto-headquartered parent company Blue Ant Media and has operations in the US and UK, is bringing 1,100 hours of content to this year’s Cannes market and is showcasing its wares via C21’s Digital Screenings this week.

 

The company has also been bolstered by its recent acquisition of UK-based distributor Drive, bringing around 900 hours of additional content into the Blue Ant International library and enhancing its executive firepower with the addition of Drive’s founders, Ben Barrett and Lilla Hurst, who have joined the distributor as global head of content financing & partnerships and global head of acquisitions & partnerships, respectively.

 

As both a seller of finished tape and a coproducer of premium originals, Blue Ant International is prioritising “creative dealmaking,” Gabourie says, as the company gears up for Mipcom 2022. It has made a concerted effort to broaden its content offering to meet the needs of buyers in a market that has continued to shift rapidly over the past 12 months.

 

“All of this is very purposefully in response to what we recognise many of our partners in the US and globally are doing, which is growing across multiple platforms and embracing multi-window strategies within their own ecosystem,” says Gabourie.

 

“Our content offering lends itself to addressing those needs across that strategy, and it positions us as a key content partner for all the major players around the world through talent- and access-driven docs, long-running and proven factual performers, animated comedies and scripted titles.”

 

Highlights on the new slate include blue-chip docuseries Chasing the Rains (4×60’, Maramedia), which journeys into parts of Africa that are rarely filmed and follows wildlife battling to survive through cycles of drought and dramatic rainfall. The series is narrated by British actor Adjoa Andoh.

 

Crime programming also forms a key part of the Mipcom offering, including Who Murdered Meredith Kercher? and Madeline McCann: The Prime Suspect. The former is a two-part Paramount+ original exploring the murder of British exchange student Meredith Kercher and how the blame was placed on roommate Amanda Knox and her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito.

 

Madeleine McCann: The Prime Suspect (3×60’), produced for UK broadcaster Channel 5, is an access-driven doc that uncovers new information on the well-known case, says Gabourie.

 

Adult animation is another area where Blue Ant International is looking to make a splash. The company has a pair of adult animated series on its slate, Gary & His Demons and Doomlands. Both are produced by Look Mom! Productions, which also sits within the Blue Ant Media portfolio.

 

Continuing in a scripted vein, the distributor is also shopping 46 episodes of Canadian comedy series Baroness Von Sketch Show, produced by Frantic Films, which Gabourie calls a “proven performer in the scripted space that also has volume, which we see as an important sales driver.”

 

Another key aspect of the slate is a trio of projects about the British royal family – a subject of heightened international interest following the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the ascension to the throne of King Charles III.

 

Documentary film King Charles’ Grand Design tells of a secret project close to the monarch’s heart: the purchase and ambitious restoration of Dumfries House. The project also includes the last known footage of the King with his mother.

 

There’s also the King Charles documentary special Born to be King (1×60′, Touchdown Films), which Blue Ant is pre-selling at Mipcom. Using unique archival footage, the project aims to show the definitive story of the man behind the crown, while exploring the future direction of the British monarchy.

 

Rounding out Blue Ant International’s royal family-related offering is Prince Andrew: Banished (1×90’, Blue Ant Studios), which looks at events surrounding the allegations of sexual abuse against the King’s brother. The distributor is handling global licensing rights to the series, which recently premiered in the US as a Peacock original.

 

Elsewhere, Blue Ant International will be pushing sales on Mysteries From Above, which investigates significant historic and contemporary sites from revealing vantage points, and Strangest Things, which uncovers some of the most remarkable and mysterious objects on earth.

 

Factual entertainment titles Cracking the Code, World’s Deadliest Weather, A Ghost Ruined My Life and Anyone’s Game will also be showcased at the market.

 

In addition to selling finished projects, part of Gabourie’s role is to forge partnerships with international players and connect them with the right parts of Blue Ant’s business to facilitate additional collaborations.

 

“Blue Ant International is really effectively positioned as a coproduction partner. We have the capability of making premium originals under a variety of creative deal models in order to bring more partners into the mix, while our increasing content offering in a wide array of highly sought-after categories makes us the key choice for our partners,” he says.
 

One of the primary market shifts since last year’s Mipcom is that the streamers and studios have taken their foot off the gas slightly in terms of content spending. Gone, for now, are the free-wheeling days when global streamers would look to fully fund the majority of their projects in exchange for worldwide rights.

 

That has created new opportunities for international distributors to partner with these streamers to get content greenlit and sold internationally. “It’s fair to say that the platforms are being more decisive on the swings they take and being very judicious in where they place their bets in programming, across all genres,” says Gabourie.

 

“I do see it as an opportunity for us, because Blue Ant is positioned to answer that with our capability to bring to the table really compelling financial models and incredible IP in development.

 

“That decisiveness means platforms are being more creative in the deals they make, and feeds that multi-window, multiplatform trend we’re seeing in the market. It’s a real advantage to a company like ours, which can be really creative in the way we structure these deals and make things more intriguing for the buyer.”

 

With a growing slate of more than 5,000 hours of content, Blue Ant International has relatively rapidly become one of the big players in international distribution. Gabourie says this year’s Mipcom is all about the company’s growth and evolution, with their strongest content offering to date showcasing the kinds of content solutions and variety they are capable of providing to their partners.

 

“We’ve placed a real emphasis on diversity of programming across the slate, whether through exclusive access with titles like Prince Andrew: Banished or scripted comedy such as Baroness Von Sketch, all while achieving scale and capacity. We’ve also expanded our thinking when it comes to structuring deals with partners and are thinking outside the box about how we get projects greenlit and how we service a multi-window, multiplatform world,” he says.

 

“There’s a need to be incredibly creative and nimble in your dealmaking these days, and that leads to longer-term, broader partnerships. That’s a trend that’s going to continue, and we’re going to see it at this market.”