Fremantle makes minority investment in AWA Studios | Fremantle
Summary
We are strengthening our creative partnership and making a strategic minority investment in Artists, Writers & Artisans, Inc. (AWA), a leading independent developer of bold and relevant stories from some of the worlds most outstanding creative talent working across graphic fiction, film and television.AWAs innovative development model provides world-class editorial partnership, dedicated film & TV development expertise and the long-term economic stake creators desire and deserve.This investment signifies a deepening of the initial partnership made between ourselves and AWA in April 2022, which saw us come together to collaborate on co-developing a slate of TV projects based on AWAs rapidly expanding IP library. We and Lupa Systems co-led the investment round alongside new capital from long-term backers of AWA and a number of strategic individual investors with expertise in production, finance, sports, human rights and technology.AWA Studios, AWAs film and TV arm, will benefit from our strategic input and investment, whilst also unlocking our specialist expertise, infrastructure and renowned international distribution footprint.Fremantle and AWA are pleased to announce that the first project on the joint development slate is Devils Highway, a thriller based on the successful comic series by Benjamin Percy and Brent Schoonover, in which a young woman seeks to unravel a sinister mystery hidden in the dark underbelly of the long-haul trucking industry.The expanded partnership was spearheaded by Andrea Scrosati, Fremantles Group COO and CEO Continental Europe, and Matthew Anderson, Co-Chair and President of AWA.Matthew Anderson, Co-Chair & President, AWA Studios, said: We admire how Fremantle has built on its long-standing strengths to become an international force in scripted drama and film. The collaboration is a perfect strategic fit, giving AWA access to our global footprint, distribution infrastructure and production expertise and putting Fremantle at the very forefront of graphic fiction innovation. I also look forward working closely with Matthew and their world class leadership and creative teams to continue pushing boundaries and building a slate of ground-breaking projects together.AWA is backed by Lupa Systems, Lightspeed Venture Partners and SISTER. Matthew Anderson, Co-Chair and President, and Jon Miller, Co-Founder and Co-Chair, lead AWAs executive team.Since its launch, AWA Studios has quickly amassed a robust film and TV operation, kicked off by the announcement of feature film adaptations of Chariot by Bryan Edward Hill and Priscilla Petraites, which Warner Bros. acquired in competitive bidding; Marjorie Finnegan: Temporal Criminal by Garth Ennis and Goran Sudzuka, which Ruben Fleischer will direct; and Hotell by John Lees and Dalibor Talajic, to be directed by Elle Callahan, among many additional projects currently in active development.In December, AWA formed a Creative Council including luminaries Reginald Hudlin, Gregg Hurwitz, Laeta Kalogridis, Joseph Kosinski, Al Madrigal and J. Michael Straczynski to help guide the company on complex creative matters and nurture ideas across a range of platforms.The minority investment in AWA is the latest in Fremantles investment activity, which in 2022 saw us take majority stakes in Eureka (Parental Guidance, Holey Moley), Label 1 (Five Dates a Week, Hospital), Element Pictures (Normal People, The Wonder, Conversations With Friends), Dancing Ledge Productions (The Salisbury Poisonings, The Responder), Lux Vide (Devils, Medici) 72 Films (9/11: One Day in America, All or Nothing: Arsenal), Wildstar Films (America the Beautiful, Americas National Parks), Silvio Productions (Buried, The Baby Daddy) and a minority stake in Fabel Entertainment (Bosch).