VICE Media Group has formed VICE Studios Group, comprised of Pulse Films, UnTypical, VICE Studios LatAm, VICE Studios Canada and a news documentary unit along with its distribution catalogue of over 1000 hours.
VICE Studios Group will be led by newly elevated Co-Presidents Jamie Hall in London and Danny Gabai in Los Angeles. The pair will “lead these distinct and dynamic production companies to a new period of creativity and collaboration.”
Hall, who has been with Pulse Films since 2018, was most recently Chief Operating Officer of Scripted Content, based in the company’s London offices. Under Hall’s leadership the scripted division at Pulse Films has expanded with a development slate, acquiring the rights to award-winning debut novel An Olive Grove in Ends from Moses McKenzie, and Sunday Times Bestseller The Perfect Girlfriend, and bringing series to life such as Sky and AMC hit, Gangs of London, Hall previously was COO of Frank Spotnitz’s Big Light Productions and was head of commercial affairs for Eleven.
Gabai, was previously Chief Content Officer at VICE Studios, where he played an instrumental part in building the production company from the ground up to encompass VICE’s feature film, premium -scripted and documentary productions. Gabai has produced multiple award-winning feature films, documentaries and television series, including the 3-time Academy Award-nominated and 2-time BAFTA nominated animated documentary FLEE; Chris Smith’s Emmy-nominated Netflix documentaries Fyre: The Greatest Party That Never Happened and Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond and film The Report starring Adam Driver. Prior to VICE, Gabai was a Motion Picture Agent at WME Entertainment and the William Morris Agency.
Pulse Films will continue producing long and short-form content covering commercials and music videos, scripted film and television series, and music documentaries. Recent credits include Gangs of London currently in its third season for Sky and AMC+, feature film Bad Apples starring Saoirse Ronan, Lewis Capaldi: How I’m Feeling Now (Netflix), and Victoria’s Secret: The Tour 23 (Amazon).
UnTypical is the new name for the production company formerly known as VICE Studios. Previous work includes MAX hit Bama Rush, ESPN 30 for 30: The American Gladiator Documentary, Netflix series Encounters, and the Sean Penn directed documentary film,Superpower, in collaboration with VICE News. The team has two premieres already this year at Sundance with The Gospel According to Tammy Faye (executive produced by Elton John and David Furnish), and DEVO (directed by Chris Smith).
VICE Studios Canada is the premium production entity based in Canada, focused on factual format series servicing broadcasters such as VICE TV and Bell Media’s Crave. The company has produced a number of series for the franchise “Dark Side”, including five series of wrestling sensation Dark of the Ring, and Dark Side of Comedy, the documentary Qanon: The Search for Q and Tales from the Territories.
VICE Studios LatAm is behind Netflix hits 1994 and La Divina Gula (Heavenly Bites). Later this year, the series and first original format for VICE, Lucha De Antojos (Street Chefs) will air on ViX.
The group also includes a long-form news documentary team. Earlier this year the team was prized with the RTS Award for On-Demand Journalism Stealing Ukraine’s Children.
Bruce Dixon, CEO, VICE Media Group said: “Leveraging the strengths across our production companies under the VICE brand creates a powerful offering for producers and talent who create content that pushes the boundaries of traditional film and television. Jamie and Danny are the right leaders to drive the Studios’ business forward and lead our incredibly talented teams.”
Danny Gabai and Jamie Hall, Co-Presidents, VICE Studios Group commented, “The creation of VICE Studios Group positions us for growth, offering unique opportunities to talent and sparking collaborations whilst still remaining true to each company’s strengths and content legacies. We have over 20 productions currently filming, or in the edit, across scripted, non-fiction, news, branded and music docs giving us a robust pipeline and plenty to be excited about.”
Jon Creamer
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