Indies 360 Production and ScreenCut TV have merged and rebranded as Rare TV.
The new company which specialises in documentaries, popular factual and specialist factual formats and events has a turnover of £8m.
Rare TV launches with a portfolio including 360 Production’s RTS Nominated BBC hit Contagion!, long-running BBC franchise Digging for Britain and RTE’s Crimecall as well as Screen Cut’s The Sheriffs Are Coming and Fake Britain.
Recent wins at 360 include primetime factual commissions, King Arthur’s Britain for BBC Two and Lockerbie: The Unheard Voices for Channel 5. New titles on Rare TV’s US slate include Egypt’s Unexplained Files for Discovery Science and TCB Media Rights. At ScreenCut, new factual formats include Oxford Street 24/7 for Channel 5 and The Dog Detectives for Discovery (Quest Red).
360 creative director Belinda Cherrington, who spearheaded the expansion of the factual indie is making a move to the US where her family is now based.
Rory Wheeler, who joined as 360 director of UK content last Autumn steps up to UK creative director of the new indie. Wheeler said; “This is a company with a great pedigree and big ambitions so it’s a privilege to take on this new role and continue to expand our reach while keeping intelligent, entertaining factual at the heart of everything we do”.
ScreenCut’s Emma Barker will become director of content while Christian Broadhurst is moving from his previous role as development executive at 360 to the newly created position of Rare TV’s vice-president of US development.
Prior to joining Rare TV, Wheeler spent nine years running Popkorn Television, the former Growth Fund indie behind series including BBC3’s Ellie Undercover, Channel 4’s Can You Fix A Brain Like Mine? and E4’s Rich Kids of Instagram.
Broadhurst has been involved with the US development at 360 Production since 2016. During that time, he has created, developed and won a raft of international commissions. His CV also includes stints at Raw Television, Arrow Media and Windfall Films.
Antony Fraser CEO of Rare TV said: “Over the last four years we have successfully expanded into international markets and broadened our range of unscripted content to include documentary and formatted factual series, feature length drama docs, landmark history, natural history and science event programming. We are sad to be saying goodbye to Belinda, but, we believe that bringing all of our creative expertise under one roof will allow our best ideas to continue to flourish. We have a very healthy network in the UK, Ireland, Northern Ireland and the US and, with 80 hours at various stages of production and delivery, moving into 2019 we are well positioned to take a prominent place on the international unscripted stage.”
Jon Creamer
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