Mipcom: WME and IMG’s film and scripted TV finance and sales groups are being merged by parent company Endeavor to form Endeavor Content.
Endeavor Content brings together WME Global and IMG’s entertainment sales groups which have collectively financed, packaged and / or sold over 100 films and TV shows in the past year.
This includes five of the nine films nominated for Best Picture at the 2017 Academy Awards: Arrival, Fences, Hell or High Water, La La Land and “Manchester by the Sea.
In television, this includes The Night Manager, Chef’s Table and The Young Pope, Top of the Lake: China Girl, Beau Willimon’s new series The First, and Damien Chazelle’s upcoming project The Eddy.
Graham Taylor and Chris Rice will serve as Co-Presidents of Endeavor Content. Endeavor Content Partners Mark Ankner, Liesl Copland, and Alexis Garcia will continue to lead the group’s advisory practice for financiers and content companies seeking to build out their entertainment strategies. All current WME Global and IMG entertainment sales team employees will transition to Endeavor Content.
“With the continued disruption taking place across the media landscape, we are forming Endeavor Content to enable talent to achieve better economics and more creative freedom,” said Graham Taylor. “Through our ability to package content, access capital resources, and engage our global sales infrastructure, Endeavor Content provides a unique platform designed to empower artists and content creators,” added Chris Rice.
Joe Hipps is also joining Endeavor Content as SVP, Television. He was previously SVP of Television for MRC where he oversaw House of Cards and Ozark.
Negeen Yazdi is joining as SVP, Film. She previously served as President of International Production and Acquisitions at The Weinstein Company where she oversaw films including The Imitation Game, Lion, and Woman in Gold.
Gary Marenzi will continue to lead international television sales for Endeavor Content. The group handled sales for shows including The Night Manager, Dirk Gently, The Grand Tour, and is currently selling the upcoming series Killing Eve from Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and a series of seven dramas based on iconic Agatha Christie titles.
Endeavor also recently acquired Ken Kao and Alex Walton’s film financing and international sales company BLOOM, which will now operate as a standalone company under Endeavor Content.
Staff Reporter
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