C21 Media

MIPTV: MY Entertainment, the New York-based prodco behind factual series including Ghost Adventures and Baggage Battles, has signed a development deal with Nigel Lythgoe (American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance).

The firm, founded by Michael Yudin, is celebrating its 15th year with a raft of deals for talent in a variety of fields, led by Lythgoe.

The moves follow the hiring of Jon Sechrist as executive VP of production, development and strategy from factual giant Discovery.

In addition, the prodco has signed deals with a variety of talent in the fields covered by its programming, including Edd China from Velocity’s Wheeler Dealers in the motor space, Matt Paxton from A&E’s Hoarders in the home genre, Yolanda McClary from TNT’s Cold Justice in true crime and Ami James from TLC’s Miami Ink and NY Ink in tattooing.

The firm has coproduction format deals with partners including Newen Group (France), Vincent Television Productions (Netherlands), Nordic World (Norway), The Story Lab (UK), Phileas Productions (Spain) and Gil Formats (Israel).

It recently completed production on a four-part commission from DRG, Manson’s Bloodlines, which will be shopped to the international market this summer.

An American version, Charles Manson: The Funeral, will premiere on US broadcaster Reelz on Saturday April 13.

New York-based producer My Entertainment has forged a deal to develop programmes with a US video-chat company.

MY Entertainment and the Video Call Center (VCC) will co-develop formats that use the VCC’s video-calling and social television technologies.

The two companies will also further develop some existing programmes within the VCC catalogue, which MY Entertainment will pitch for sale to networks.

The VCC has already produced content for clients such as Fox TV Stations and Discovery, including workshop programmes incorporating live video calls.

Joe Townley, executive producer and chief operating officer for MY Entertainment, said: “Every content provider has been trying to crack the code in developing social media-based, formatted programmes. We believe the VCC has developed the technology and the specialised production expertise to break through with that.”

[vc_row class=”blog-details-single”][vc_column][vc_column_text]Sky Vision, the production and distribution arm of UK-based pay TV operator Sky, has secured a first-look distribution deal with US prodco MY Entertainment.
As part of the agreement, Sky Vision will work closely with MY Entertainment as it develops new content and will have access to a selection of programming from its slate with the option to exclusively distribute the projects globally.
MY Entertainment is behind shows including Ghost Adventures for Travel Channel, Sin City Justice for Investigation Discovery and UKTV’s Help! My House Is Haunted.
Gillian Rose, senior VP of sales and acquisitions at Sky Vision, said MY Entertainment “has tapped into partnerships with several very interesting and innovative producers around the globe, and together we expect to create and distribute some great programming from this alliance.”
Michael Yudin, founder and president of MY Entertainment, added: “A key focus of our business strategy is to find creative new ways to retain our IP. What a powerhouse such as Sky Vision does best is to provide unrivalled support for our big-hitting shows, helping to take us to another level while we continue to create, innovate and build relationships around the world in every way we can.”
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US production company My Entertainment has partnered with South Korean broadcaster SBS to develop a social experiment format for international distribution.

The Power is being developed by Michael Yudin’s firm with SBS and Critical Density Media and aims to spotlight society’s relationship with money, class, social status and power.

SBS aired a pilot of the series in July last year and it was recently nominated for a Rockie Award at the Banff World Media Festival.
The series is slated to air in South Korea in early 2018 and My Entertainment will now develop the format for the US and western markets.

The format tests how people, regardless of their background or wealth, behave when granted absolute power to make decisions that affect everyone around them.

David Auerbach, My Entertainment’s senior VP, said: “Our strategy to develop new formats with international partners has started to yield impressive results and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with a respected and successful broadcaster like SBS.
“The creative collaboration to develop a very timely social experiment/format designed to work across multiple cultures has been exhilarating.”

Gil Formats’ factual entertainment format, ‘Pregnant and Platonic’, has secured two new deals with production companies in key territories: Bulldog TV in Italy and ITV Studios in Finland. This takes the total number of deals for the format to eight, following on from recent deals in the UK, Australia, Germany, Spain, Sweden and France.

‘Pregnant & Platonic’, co-developed by Gil Formats with US based production company MY Entertainment, centres on men and women who are looking to have a child without getting romantically involved, through the process of co-parenting, and is based on Gil Formats’ CEO Assaf Gil’s personal journey to parenthood.

In this format, hopeful co-parents are guided through the process by experts in co-parenting. Once they choose a partner to have a child with, the series follows the couples as they face numerous challenges and difficult decisions before they can turn their dreams of becoming parents into a reality. Each story will hopefully climax with a baby being born.

The format will be distributed by Gil Formats at NATPE Budapest 2017.

About Gil Formats:
Gil Formats is a TV content creator and distributor, developing innovative formats for the international market including observational documentaries, semi-scripted reality comedy, game shows and reality TV. Founded in 2015, Gil Formats is based in Tel Aviv and Sister Company of veteran Israeli TV production company – Gil Productions.

About MY Entertainment:
MY Entertainment is a successful independent production company with a proven track record of creating cutting-edge content and pioneering new business models with broadcasters and advertisers. MY Entertainment is best known for innovative formats, great storytelling, compelling characters and high production values.

The company has produced series across a wide variety of genres delivering both ratings and renewals for its partners such as: Discovery, A&E, National Geographic, Lifetime, Spike, MTV, Comedy Central, Travel Channel, Investigation Discovery, Oxygen, Nickelodeon, Food Network, Animal Planet, Logo, IFC, TruTV and CMT.

Based in New York with offices in Los Angeles, MY Entertainment has been at the forefront of the international business, co-producing series in Canada and the UK and forging strong relationships with independent producers around the world to co-develop original formats for the global market.

Founded in 2000 by Michael Yudin, who began his career in advertising, the company is also a leader in branded entertainment, producing shows for Reebok, Jenny Craig, Schick and Stolichnya Vodka.

New York-based prodco MY Entertainment has struck a deal with the magazine publisher behind Men’s Health and Runner’s World to develop lifestyle content for television around the brands.

Michael Yudin’s prodco has teamed up with Rodale, which publishes 100 brands across 67 countries, to work on content based on Rodale’s IP and talent relationships.

Developers at MY Entertainment will collaborate with editors at Rodale’s magazines to identify ideas and personalities that would make storytelling opportunities for lifestyle series.

It is the first time Rodale has engaged with a prodco that can deliver television, OTT and/or web-based video content.

Adam Campbell, chief content officer at Rodale, said: “As a global health and wellness content company, we need to be everywhere our customers are – and TV is a natural next step.

“This partnership will enable us to extend our brands with compelling stories that inform, entertain and provide value to both our existing consumers and new audiences around the world.”

MY Entertainment CEO Yudin said: “This relationship has it all: a mine of strong IP from loved and trusted brands and a production company with the knowledge and experience to bring them to TV.”

Clive Whittingham
21-03-2017 © C21Media

London-based investor, producer and distributor The Story Lab has partnered with prodcos in the US and Spain on a new reality format to be launched at MipTV.

Hall Pass is the product of a partnership between The Story Lab, New York-based factual prodco MY Entertainment and Phileas Productions in Spain.

The show is a social experiment that gives couples at a crossroads in their relationship the opportunity to find out if the grass really is greener on the other side by granting each other a 72 hour ‘hall pass’ to do whatever they want with absolutely no consequences.
When the couple is reunited they are given the chance to see a video of what their partner did with their free time and must then decide whether they can live up to their ‘no consequences’ part of the bargain and stay together, or go their separate ways.
Erik de Winter, head of The Story Lab Netherlands, has brokered a deal for Simpel Media to produce a pilot of the show in the Netherlands, which will be completed in time for MipTV.

The Story Lab, known for shopping the Ninja Warrior format in Europe, holds international distribution rights.
Clive Whittingham
14-03-2017
©C21Media

My Entertainment, Michael Yudin’s US-based factual production specialist, has unveiled a crime series that centres on the grandson of mass murderer Charles Manson.

The coproduction, with Zak Bagans Entertainment, follows Jason Freeman on his quest to meet his 82-year-old grandfather Manson before he dies in a Californian prison cell.

The as-yet untitled show will tell the story of the convicted killer through the eyes of his grandson, whose life has been defined by his notorious relative.

The show is part of a number of crime-driven projects unveiled by New York-based My Entertainment.

The prodco has also been given unprecedented access to the training provided by North Las Vegas Police Department to turn raw recruits into the next generation of police officers.

Training Day: North Las Vegas will introduce audiences to a cast of characters that ranges from a single mom hoping to leave her job as a bartender to an ex-Marine still scarred from several tours in Iraq.

My Entertainment has also struck a development deal with Randy Sutton, a retired police lieutenant and national spokesman for the law enforcement support group Blue Lives Matter.

In Behind The Badge, Sutton will travel the country interviewing cops and their families and listening to their real-life stories of bravery.

Andrew Dickens
13-02-2017
©C21Media