EXCLUSIVE: Lighthearted Entertainment, the company behind long-running MTV reality series Are You The One?, is under new ownership.
The company, which was founded by the late Howard Schultz, has been acquired by Canadian company Blink49 Studios.
The move bolsters Blink49’s expansion into the unscripted business with Lighthearted Presidents Rob LaPlante and Jeff Spangler becoming Co-Presidents, Formats, Blink49 Studios.
Blink49’s unscripted business, which is overseen by Global President Tara Long, produces series including WeTV’s The Braxtons and Amazon true-crime docuseries Romcon: Who The F**k Is Jason Porter. On the scripted side, it is behind Wild Cards and Sight Unseen.
LaPlante and Spangler will report to Long. Lighthearted also produces series Peacock’s Queens Court, Bravo’s Kings Court and Netflix’s The Trust: A Game of Greed. The company was recently nominated for an NAACP Image Award for its OWN series Ready to Love.
The deal will also allow Lighthearted to take advantage of Canada’s production ecosystem, including incentives and talent.
“Lighthearted Entertainment has built a remarkable legacy in the unscripted space, and we’re excited to welcome them into the Blink49 family,” said John Morayniss, CEO, Blink49 Studios. “This acquisition marks an important step in expanding our formats business and broadening the scope of what we can deliver to buyers worldwide. With Lighthearted’s creative leadership and approach to building scalable unscripted IP, Blink49 is well positioned to accelerate growth across high-demand genres.”
“Joining forces with Blink49 is an exciting new chapter as we unite two strong creative engines. By combining our development, production, and distribution strengths, we’re positioned to expand our slate, grow our partnerships, and deliver high-impact unscripted formats around the world. We couldn’t be more excited to help lead Blink49 global formats into the future of unscripted,” added LaPlante and Spangler.
“With their proven track record of creating hit unscripted formats and long-running series, Lighthearted is a key addition to our unscripted group. Rob and Jeff’s creative vision and leadership will strengthen our development pipeline and unlock new opportunities across Canada and the international marketplace,” said Tara Long, Global President, Unscripted, Blink49 Studios.
The deal was negotiated by Nelson Kuo-Lee, COO, Blink49 Studios and Ron Milkes and Bryan Bowles of Bryor Media Partners on behalf of Lighthearted Entertainment.
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