Optomen, Chalkboard partner in US

All3Media-owned Optomen Productions and UK prodco Chalkboard TV have agreed a coproduction partnership for the US market.

Mike Benson

New York-based Optomen and Chalkboard will collaborate on original projects and UK formats for pitching directly to US broadcasters.

The alliance will see Chalkboard’s MD Mike Benson and his team work with Optomen president Maria Silver and Ricky Kelehar, senior VP of development.

Silver and Benson will serve as exec producers on all series created by the collaboration. Chalkboard’s Sky series My Wonderful Life is the first project on the agenda, with the firms taking it to broadcasters at this week’s Realscreen Summit in New Orleans.

Maria Silver

Benson said Optomen’s US operation’s “creativity and commercial nous” was an attractive proposition for his firm.

“We see this partnership with Maria and Ricky at Optomen as an exciting springboard into the US market where both companies share similar ambitions and sensibilities for the type of programme we aim to develop and produce,” he added.