Raine pours investment into Imagine

Imagine Entertainment is led by Ron Howard (left) and Brian Grazer

US producer Imagine Entertainment has secured ‘significant investment’ from New York banking firm Raine Group and is expanding into digital formats and branded content.

Imagine, which was founded in 1986, is headed up by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard and is behind dramas including Fox’s Empire and NBC’s Parenthood, as well as movies such as A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13.

Details of the investment, rumoured to be around US$100m, were kept under wraps but Imagine said it would enable the firm to increase its TV and movie output and invest in entertainment formats.

The prodco added that acquisitions would be considered and new forms of distribution explored.

The deal will see Joe Ravitch and Erik Hodge, both co-founders at US-based Raine, sitting on Imagine’s board. Grazer and Howard, executive chairman at Imagine, will continue to run the prodco.

Raine has previously invested in companies including Important Studios, from South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, as well as Vice Media.

Grazer said content creation and consumption methods “are transforming faster than ever before, expanding in directions that hadn’t been conceived even a few years ago. The opportunity to extend Imagine’s reach across this expanding landscape is a driving force for us.”

Howard added that the deal would allow Imagine “to build upon our creative relationships to broaden our reach into all narrative formats and platforms.”