Fox Entertainment, Foxtel strike co-development deal for scripted series

Rob Wade Alison and Hurbert-Burns
US-based Fox Entertainment has forged an international co-development agreement with Australia’s Foxtel Group for scripted television series.
The companies will co-develop and co-commission series for Fox in the US, Foxtel Group-owned streamer Binge and pay TV channel Foxtel in Australia, as well as third-party platforms in the US and internationally.
Projects created will be produced in Australia by Fox Entertainment Studios, the in-house scripted arm of Fox Entertainment, and use above- and below-the-line talent and crew from both Australia and the US.
Distribution arm Fox Entertainment Global (FEG) will handle worldwide sales on projects that make it to green light.
While Foxtel has previously acquired Fox Entertainment series including Animal Control, Grimsburg and Krapopolis, this marks the first time the companies have formally collaborated to develop new projects.
There is an ownership link between the two companies, given that Fox Entertainment is owned by Fox Corportation, the Rupert Murdoch-owed American media company, while Foxtel is 65% owned by the Australian division of Murdoch-owned News Corp.
For Fox Entertainment, this deal is part of a larger strategy that has seen it enter several key partnerships with international players over the past year.
Among them, FEG signed a licensing and distribution pact with Canada’s Bell Media, while the Fox network in the US struck a deal with UK-based studio Eagle Eye Drama to jointly develop a scripted series and, separately, inked a development deal with the UK’s Clapperboard Studios and France’s Aux Singuliers for a project called Dead Space.
“Expanding Fox Entertainment’s international footprint through innovative business models is a principal priority for us, particularly as we unfurl our recently formalised structure built on three key business operations: Fox Network, Fox Entertainment Studios and Fox Entertainment Global,” said Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade.
Alison Hurbert-Burns, who serves as the executive director of entertainment content and commissioner for Foxtel Group, added: “Investing in strategic content partnerships, like this one with Fox Entertainment, is reflective of our desire to deliver global thinking to local productions, whilst also sharing Australian stories around the world. We’re looking to find new ways to collaborate and bring more production to our shores, to deliver Australian productions that are popular for Foxtel and Binge audiences but also deliver for international partners.”
Jordan Pinto & Natalie Apostolou16-07-2024
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