Sierra/Affinity teams with Engine Entertainment

Venture eyes overseas TV distribution, production

Nick Meyer's Sierra/Affinity banner is diving into the fast-growing arena of internationally focused TV production and distribution.

Sierra/Affinity has teamed with Engine Entertainment to launch Sierra/Engine Television, which aims to finance and distribute TV programming on a worldwide basis. The company will make its debut at the Mipcom sales confab in Cannes next month.

Sierra/Affinity had already pacted with Georgeville Television, the startup indie production venture backed by Reliance Entertainment, to handle international sales of its budding slate of series, which encompasses the NBC pirate drama "Crossbones" and "Hunters," a thriller in development at ABC from sci-fi vet J. Michael Straczynski. Sierra/Engine Television will shop those series to international outlets during Mipcom, which runs Oct. 8-11. The company also intends to develop and produce its own content.

Engine Entertainment was launched in 2010 by NBCUniversal alumnus Chris Philip. Company has a first-look pact with Ben Silverman's Electus Entertainment.

"Chris' experience in studio television distribution and in the independent financing and packaging of programming is a perfect fit for our expansion into television," said Meyer. "Partnering with Chris and Engine accelerates our movement into this space, and we are looking to continue to work with great creative partners in television as we have done in film."

Philip credited the "financial strength" of Sierra/Affinity as a boon for the new venture.

"We are ready to offer our global clients a raft of new high-quality programming and taking three new U.S. network series to Mipcom is an outstanding way to launch," he said.

Source: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118059947.html?cmpid=RSS%7CNews%7CLatestNews