Merger of these operations sees Blue Ant Media acquiring marblemedia and international sales operation Distribution360.
International media company, Blue Ant Media and the award-winning, production and distribution company, marblemedia, have announced the merger of the two companies’ production and distribution operations into one unified studio and rights business.
Mark Bishop and Matthew Hornburg will take the helm of this business, serving as co-Presidents and reporting into Michael MacMillan, CEO and co-founder, Blue Ant Media.
With hubs in Toronto, New York, Los Angeles, Miami and London, the merger of these operations sees Blue Ant Media acquiring marblemedia and international sales operation Distribution360, effective today. Mark Bishop and Matthew Hornburg will operate from Blue Ant Media’s Toronto office.
The combined businesses, which includes production companies marblemedia, Blue Ant Studios, Saloon Media and Look Mom! Productions, in addition to distributors Distribution360 and Blue Ant International, provide an expanded scope of intellectual properties across all genres including scripted comedy and drama, unscripted entertainment, formats, factual and premium docs, live action kids/family and animation.
The super-charged studio is positioned to create bigger creative projects at scale with renowned IP, innovative originals and the world’s best-in-class talent, while expanding its reach with new partnerships with streamers and broadcasters in North America and around the world.
“marblemedia has long been regarded as one of the most respected production and distribution companies in the unscripted and scripted space, having created huge hits for the biggest streamers and broadcasters in the industry. With Mark and Matt leading our combined studios and rights business, Blue Ant Media is well positioned in its growth as an international media company with production, rights and an established global channels division all operating at scale,” said Michael MacMillan, CEO and co-founder, Blue Ant Media.
“We are excited to join forces with Michael MacMillan, a trailblazer in our industry known for scaling industry-leading companies. Building this new merged production and distribution studio will bring together our talented teams who have a shared vision and belief that original content and rich IP are the greatest differentiator,” said Mark Bishop and Matthew Hornburg, co-CEOs, marblemedia. “The appetite for premium content remains strong in the global market, and we can better serve this demand with high-quality content and by working with best-in-class collaborators.”
marblemedia is known for delivering premium original unscripted and scripted content including Top 10 Netflix series Blown Away and Drink Masters, A Cut Above (Discovery), Race Against the Tide (CBC) the upcoming Hulu and Prime Video teen comedy Davey and Jonesie’s Locker and the highly anticipated documentary, Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe (Prime Video), set to have it’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Blue Ant Media has carved out a strong position in the market with recent hits including award-winning Canada’s Drag Race (produced with World of Wonder for Bell Media/Crave), Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks (Prime Video), the ground-breaking new documentary series Casey Anthony: Where the Truth Lies (Peacock), the true-crime hit series, See No Evil (produced with Arrow Media for Investigative Discovery US) and Gary and His Demons (Prime Video, Amazon FreeVee). The production businesses are each supported by Blue Ant International, a global, multi-genre distributor of high-quality, creative content, encompassing more than 5,000 hours of content across all genres; and innovative multi-genre global rights management business Distribution360 representing nearly 2,000 hours of content and formats.
The development is part of a long term growth strategy at Blue Ant Media that includes the recent scaling up of the company’s global channels business, including wildlife and nature brand Love Nature’s expansion into 145+ countries with its streaming and cable TV offerings; the launch of eight new FAST channels internationally; and an extensive lineup of premium cable TV offerings in Canada.
Sam Sniderman will serve as Blue Ant Media’s Chief Commercial Officer, working closely with Michael MacMillan and CFO, Robb Chase on business development, partnerships and M&A. Laura Michalchyshyn will continue her duties as Chief Creative Officer, nurturing and attracting talent for the company’s overall business worldwide. Beach House Pictures will continue to operate independently out of Singapore.
Blue Ant Media is a privately held, international content producer, distributor and channel operator. The media company owns and operates numerous production companies in North America and Asia-Pacific, creating content for broadcasters and streaming platforms in multiple genres including factual entertainment, natural history, documentary and animation. Its distribution business, Blue Ant International, offers a substantial catalogue of content, including one of the world’s largest 4K natural history offerings. Blue Ant Media operates linear and free streaming channels under several brands including Love Nature, Cottage Life, Smithsonian Channel (Canada), BBC Earth (Canada), HauntTV, Homeful, Drag Race Universe, CrimeTime, TotalCrime, HistoryTime and Love Pets. Blue Ant Media is headquartered in Toronto, with seven international offices in Los Angeles, New York, Singapore, Tokyo, London, Washington and Beijing.
marblemedia is known for creating unrivaled premium scripted, unscripted, family and kids’ content for over 22 years, with over 2,100 hours of content distributed in over 200 territories. The company is celebrated for their original and ground-breaking content, which includes unscripted hit Netflix originals Blown Away; and Drink Masters, A Cut Above (Discovery), CBC Originals Race Against the Tide and Best in Miniature, the upcoming teen comedy Davey and Jonesie’s Locker (Hulu, Amazon Prime Video), and the highly anticipated feature documentary, Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe (Prime Video, CBC). Powered by the reach of its own international distribution company, Distribution 360, the company also operates the successful CAVCO certified YouTube channel, marbleKids. Recently, Mark Bishop and Matthew Hornburg were named on the Globe & Mail’s list of 25 most influential people in Canadian Television and the “Titans of Unscripted” on Variety’s 2022 Reality Impact Report. marblemedia was founded in 2001 by co-CEOs Mark Bishop and Matthew Hornburg, headquartered in Toronto with offices in Los Angeles and London.
