Fox Entertainment has struck a deal with Australian cousin Foxtel Group to co-develop new TV series for the Australian and U.S. markets. News was jointly announced on Monday by Fox Entertainment CEO Rob Wade and Foxtel Group’s entertainment content executive director and commissioner Alison Hurbert-Burns.
Under the deal, Fox Entertainment and Foxtel Group will identify and develop scripted series to co-commission. Programs would be produced in Australia by Fox Entertainment Studios (Fox Entertainment’s in-house studio) and include both talent and crews from Australia and the U.S. Fox Entertainment’s worldwide content sales unit Fox Entertainment Global will oversee international sales of the shows coming out of the deal.
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This reps the first joint deal between Fox Entertainment and Foxtel Group (which is 65% owned by News Corp. and 35% by Telstra).
“Expanding Fox Entertainment’s international footprint through innovative business models is a principal priority for us, particularly as we unfurl our recently formalized structure built on three key business operations – Fox Network, Fox Entertainment Studios and Fox Entertainment Global,” Wade said in a statement. “Each of these divisions are designed to power our growth strategy by uniting with the best and the brightest companies and creatives around the world, and Foxtel Group is the perfect partner to help us achieve this goal.”
Through the deal, original content will be developed for Foxtel Group’s subscription TV platform Foxtel, as well as its streamer Binge, in Australia, as well as for third-party platforms in the U.S. and abroad.
Fox and Foxtel Group are already in business on several fronts: Foxtel’s Binge licenses Fox Entertainment Studios’ “Animal Control,” for example. Binge also licensed Fox Entertainment’s Bento Box-produced animated series “Krapopolis” and “Grimsburg.”
“Investing in strategic content partnerships, like this one with fox Entertainment, is reflective of our desire to deliver global thinking to local productions, whilst also sharing Australian stories around the world,” Hurbert-Burns said. “We’re looking to find new ways to collaborate and bring more production to our shores, to deliver Australian productions that are popular for Foxtel and Binge audiences but also deliver for international partners.”
Fox Entertainment Global has previously struck deals including a licensing and distribution pact with Canada’s Bell Media (including CTV and Crave). Fox Network, under Michael Thorn, also has a deal with U.K.-based studio Eagle Eye Drama to jointly develop a scripted series. It’s additionally developing a drama with the working title “Dead Space” along with U.K.’s Clapperboard Studios France’s Aux Singuliers.
Bento Box and film production company Princess Pictures are behind Princess Bento Studio, which produces animated content out of Melbourne, Australia — including Fox’s upcoming animated series “Universal Basic Guys” (which it’s co-producing with Sony Pictures TV), the Prime Video series “Hazbin Hotel” (co-produced with A24) and three series from writer/director/actor Michael Cusack: Adult Swim’s “Smiling Friends” and “Yolo: Silver Destiny,” and Hulu’s “Koala Man.” Bento Box also has a production services agreement with the Dublin-based animation studio Boulder Media.
