Red Arrow takes control of Kinetic

Red Arrow Entertainment, part of Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1, has bought 51% of Kinetic Content, the indie prodco launched earlier this year by former RDF Media USA CEO Chris Coelen.

The deal, for an undisclosed sum, gives Red Arrow control of the LA-based company. Coelen launched Kinetic in March this year, while Red Arrow, a holding company tasked with leading ProSieben’s international expansion, was launched in January.

Red Arrow said the Kinetic deal represented a key step in its building its production footprint and content catalogue, and gave it a strategic foothold on the West Coast of America. ProSieben’s SevenOne International will distribute Kinetic Content’s output worldwide.

“We believe Chris is an exceptional production and creative executive,” said Red Arrow Group MD Jan Frouman.

“In a mere six months, he has assembled a stellar team, executed key development agreements, and has positioned Kinetic for rapid growth. Our partnership is well timed and represents an excellent opportunity to accelerate Red Arrow’s international expansion as a whole.”

Since launching Kinetic, Coelen has been quick to strike an array of deals. In July it struck a deal with 4Rights, the rights exploitation arm of UK commercial broadcaster Channel 4, allowing the latter to cherry-pick US series scripts, and later the same month signed a formats swap deal with STV Productions, the production arm of Scottish broadcaster STV Group.

The prodco has staffed up quickly, hiring Kathleen Burns Rohr, formerly of LA indie Pilgrim, to be its chief operating officer; Billy Taylor, previously with Bravo, as senior VP; Arash Ghadishah, a news reporter from ABC News, as senior VP; and Emma Conway, a FremantleMedia exec, as VP.

Coelen also took on fellow RDF alumni Karrie Wolfe, Jennifer Danska, Gerald Massimei and Katie Griffin; former BBC producer Matilda Zoltowski; and former ABC News producer Heather Downie.

During his four-year tenure at RDF, Coelen and his team were responsible for programmes including Secret Millionaire, Don’t Forget the Lyrics and Wife Swap. Before joining RDF he was a partner at United Talent Agency.

Meanwhile, since its launch at the start of the year, Red Arrow has acquired a majority stake in Belgian prodco Sultan Sushi, producer of shows including Fata Morgana and Huizenjacht (aka House Hunt); has inked a multi-year development agreement with Israeli TV creative Omri Marcus; and launched a new production company called Sultan Sushi Netherlands.