Fugitive, Merzigo join forces for AVoD

UK-based financer and distributor Fugitive has teamed up with Turkish digital content curation firm Merzigo to establish an international Merzigo business in London.

Merrily Ross

Fugitive, the content development, financing and executive producing company managed by Anthony Kimble and Merrily Ross, will be responsible for assessing and acquiring AVoD rights to content from across the world.

It will work with Merzigo’s facility in Istanbul to upload and manage the content, while exploring ways to optimise revenues across platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Dailymotion.

The content being sought includes big-name factual entertainment brands, factual programming in genres ranging from reality and true crime to history and science, and scripted content ranging from soaps and telenovelas to crime series and movies.

Merzigo currently works with broadcasters including Fox, Kanal D, Disney, National Geographic, TV8 and Kanal 7, producers such as Acun Medya Global, and brands including Survivor and Muhteşem Yüzyıl: Kösem, aiming to increase revenues and grow committed online communities.

The Fugitive team is setting up the Merzigo international office in central London, where it will provide a range of business affairs and support services. Ross is also recruiting a dedicated content acquisitions executive to manage the day-to-day content flow.

Ross said: “This exciting new collaboration with Merzigo allows Fugitive to capitalise on its extensive network of international contacts and, of course, the rapidly growing AVoD market.

“There is so much content out there in the world but relatively few companies with either Merzigo’s track record or high-tech and curation capabilities. By joining forces, we bring something new to this sector of the distribution market and will be quickly in a position to help rights owners truly maximise the value of their IP in the rapidly developing digital universe.”