Warner Music Entertainment, Lightbox agree multi-project film, TV partnership

Simon Chinn (left) and Jonathan Chinn

Warner Music Entertainment, the film and television division of Warner Music Group (WMG), and London- and LA-based prodco Lightbox are teaming up to coproduce, co-develop and co-finance non-fiction film and TV projects.

The deal will give Lightbox, founded by cousins Simon Chinn (Searching For Sugar Man, Man on Wire, Tina) and Jonathan Chinn (LA 92, Whitney, Hip Hop Uncovered), access to WMG’s catalogue to create content telling the stories of WMG’s songwriters and legacy acts.

Lightbox and its principals’ credits in the music space include critically acclaimed features and series such as Tina (HBO), Whitney, Hip Hop Uncovered (FX), Supervillain: The Making of Tekashi 6ix9ine (Showtime) and Searching for Sugar Man.

Warner Music Entertainment is led by Charlie Cohen in the US and Kate Shepherd in the UK. Since its inception in 2017, the team has produced longform series and documentaries such as American Utopia, Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan, and Genius: Aretha.

In a joint statement, Simon Chinn and Jonathan Chinn said: “This deal with WMG will open up the vaults to an archive of amazing musical talent and rich history of songwriters and performers. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring some of Warner Music’s extraordinary artists and their stories to audiences around the world.”

Kate Shepherd, MD of Warner Music Entertainment UK, added: “This is a really exciting partnership for us at Warner Music. We have such an incredible array of artists whose stories deserve to be told and Simon, Jonathan and the Lightbox team are experts in storytelling and filmmaking.

“Partnering Warner Music Entertainment with Lightbox will further enhance our productivity and enable us to create unrivalled content. We have a slate of projects that we’re incredibly excited about.”