Wheelhouse secures minority investment from Jeff Bewkes’ Alignment Growth

Brent Montgomery’s unscripted-focused production group Wheelhouse has secured a minority investment from a group led by Alignment Growth.

Brent Montgomery

The capital injection, which marks the first time Wheelhouse has raised outside capital since it launched in 2018, will allow the New York-headquartered company to grow through strategic M&A and build its infrastructure.

Alignment Growth was launched in 2021 by former Time Warner chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes, ex-Warner Bros Entertainment chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara and media investor Alex Iosilevich

Through the investment, Bewkes, who is a founding partner at Alignment Growth, will join the Wheelhouse board of directors. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Founded by former ITV America CEO Montgomery in 2018, Wheelhouse’s portfolio of production companies includes Spoke Studios, Campfire, Butternut, Wheelhouse UK and management firm Wheelhouse DNA. It also has production partnerships in place with Jimmy Kimmel’s Kimmelot and chef David Chang’s Majordomo Media.

TV and streaming series produced through Wheelhouse’s various companies include Buying Beverly Hills and romcom Players for Netflix; Secret Chef with David Chang for Hulu; doc feature WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn; Smartless: On the Road for Max; and Celebrity Family Cookoff for Roku.

According to Wheelhouse, in 2023 it sold 20 series that are in various stages of production to outlets such as Netflix, Hulu, Roku, Paramount+, HGTV, Food Network and OWN.

Alignment Growth officially launched in April 2021 with a mandate to invest in growing media, entertainment and gaming companies. Last year, it raised US$360m for its inaugural growth equity fund. It has previously invested in US production and finance company Spyglass Media Group and video game developer Build a Rocket Boy.

The deal between Wheelhouse and Alignment Growth was led by Alignment Growth partner Tsujihara and Wheelhouse president and general counsel Rob Lia and chief strategy officer Ed Simpson.

Montgomery said: “We are building Wheelhouse as a collective of global creatives who not only shine on their own, but truly want to partner with one another across labels and divisions, so we’re thrilled that Alignment’s investment will allow us to supersize our efforts engaging talent in front of and behind the camera.”

Bewkes added: “We are excited to partner with and support Brent, a seasoned operator and a magnet for the best talent in non-scripted. His success in the space is unparalleled, and his team is well positioned to build Wheelhouse into one of the preeminent names across the industry.”