EXCLUSIVE: British producer Honeybird Studios has unveiled a roster of creative partners it plans to work with to retain IP.
Those working with the Newcastle-based producer comprises UK’s Strongest Man maker FilmNova, Ninja Warrior line producer ATS, London’s Gramafilm, Andrew Cole Bulgin’s Tinkled Pink, former eOne UK casting exec Claudia Gueretta and Toronto formats producer Ready Everybody.
The plan is to develop and produce unscripted formats that will be co-owned between Honeybird and the respective partner, with their separate strengths combining to make stronger creative propositions and cross-genre collabs.
Former Whizz Kid Entertainment Managing Director Lisa Chapman launched Honeybird in 2023 and became its CEO, teaming with Managing Directors Derek Drennan and Stew Batt to create a production hub in the North East of England. Prior to Whizz Kid, she had been SVP of Non-Scripted Television at eOne UK.
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Honeybird has since been developing a slate of TV programs across entertainment, factual entertainment and reality, and described the new pacts as “a significant step.”
Among its new partners, FilmNova is a live sport and documentary production company based also based in the North East, and has upcoming documentaries on the likes of ice skaters Torvill and Dean. ATS recently rebranded from The ATS Team and has been pushing beyond its line production roots into international co-productions.
Gramafilm makes content for brands including Red Bull, McLaren and Google DeepMind, while Tickled Pink is the new production outfit from Cole Bulgin, the producer behind Netflix movie The Kissing Booth. Gueretta has ties with Chapman through eOne, where she was a casting and development exec. Unscripted producer Fraser Isaac is the founder of Ready Everybody, focused on fact-ent and docs.
“Working with such talented and creative people is a privilege,” said Chapman. “Given the current market, it seemed natural to expand our development pipeline with these creative collaborations to get the biggest, most innovative, noisy and entertaining content out there – much like the tried and tested co-production model for scripted.”