Waterside and Curiouscast ink podcast-to-screen pact with Blanchard House

Waterside Studios, the Corus Entertainment-owned IP and production venture led by Jeff Norton, is delving into the podcast-to-screen adaptation space through a new partnership with international podcast producer Blanchard House.

Jeff Norton

Through the deal, Waterside Studios and Corus’s podcast network Curiouscast will team with Blanchard House to produce four podcasts, with plans to adapt all of them for the screen.

The first audio project, a true crime podcast titled Black and Blue: Behind the Badge, is set to launch on October 17. Hosted by Seren Jones, the story follows Michael Morrison, a black policeman who joins the force to serve and protect, but encounters racism, hostility and violence.

The deal comes a year after Toronto-based Corus launched Waterside Studios, in addition to inking an overall deal with Norton’s Dominion of Drama banner.

Waterside Studios’ first series is an adaptation of British teen novel series Geek Girl from author Holly Smale. The 10-part Canada/UK coproduction was co-commissioned by Corus and Netflix in the UK.

“It’s an exciting time to be partnering with the first-class team at Blanchard House, alongside the global platform Curiouscast, to develop four amazing podcasts for TV,” said head of Waterside Studios Norton.

“The podcasts are utterly riveting and I have no doubt that the TV adaptation will take the storytelling to new heights.”