Blue Ant Studios announced Tuesday the promotion of Nick Solowski to the position of vice president of international sales.
Based in Toronto, he previously held the role of senior director of international sales and acquisitions at the international production studio and rights business.
Called “an integral member of both Blue Ant Studios’ APAC and Americas teams” in a company press release, Solowski reports jointly to Jon Penn, managing director, APAC, Blue Ant Media, and Bryan Gabourie, senior vice president, international sales and partnerships, Blue Ant Studios, with a focus on the territories of Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Japan, China and Canada.
“After nearly eight years with Blue Ant, this elevated role will now see Nick looking to supercharge the company’s business in these markets, broadening the scope of existing content partnerships and cultivating new ones, especially with emerging platforms,” the press release says.
Before joining Blue Ant Studios, Solowski gained experience from distribution sales roles in Canada at Tricon Films & Television, Spafax Canada and Alliance Atlantis MPD, according to the release.
“Nick is a valuable and hard-working member of Blue Ant Studios’ distribution team, hugely respected by his peers and industry colleagues,” Penn said in a statement. “He has a proven track record of securing successful partnerships across our catalogue of finished content, identifying crucial pre-sale deals for many of our key title launches, and consistently working to grow our reach through deploying a variety of creative business models. This promotion is well deserved and I am excited to continue working alongside him in the APAC region to grow our presence and reputation.”
Blue Ant Studios announced Solowski’s promotion at the Asia Television Forum & Market (ATF) being held this week in Singapore, where the company also confirmed it has recently secured a slew of deals in Australia and New Zealand.
In Australia, Network Ten has acquired Airborne (4 episodes x 60 minutes, produced by Humble Bee Films), a natural history series narrated by British actress Keeley Hawes (Line of Duty, Bodyguard). Channel Nine has acquired the current affairs documentary Trump: A Second Chance? (60 minutes, October Films), as well as two true crime series, Body in the Suitcase (2 x 60 minutes, Transistor Films) and season 10 of See No Evil, a series that examines how real crimes are solved with the help of surveillance cameras. In addition, Channel Nine has licensed the aspirational reality series Dubai: Buying the Dream (6 x 60 minutes, Angel Eye Media), which is set in the high-stakes world of Dubai’s luxury property market.
Also in Australia, SBS has picked up Stormy (120 minutes, Imagine Documentaries), about the life of Stormy Daniels, as well as The Playboy Bunny Murder (2 x 60 minutes, Future Studios and Soho Studios), and seasons two and three of history series Mysteries from Above (20 x 60 minutes, Blue Ant Studios). Furthermore, SBS Food has acquired Adam Richman Eats Britain (10 x 30 minutes, eOne), Sophie Grigson: Slice of Italy (20 x 30 minutes, Finestripe Productions), and Tom Kerridge: Secrets of the Pub Kitchen (10 x 30 minutes, Bone Soup Productions).
Blue Ant Studios says an additional deal in Australia has been recently concluded with Britbox, for true crime title Murder in the Village: Who Killed the Doctor’s Wife? (2 x 60 minutes, Blink Films).
In New Zealand, TVNZ has licensed Charles III: The Coronation Year (2 x 60 minutes, Oxford Film and TV) and The World’s Most Luxurious Retirement Homes (60 minutes, ScreenDog Productions), which visits the ultra-rich in retirement, living in places with Bugatti stairlifts and Michelin-starred chefs on call.
Photo of Nick Solowski courtesy of Blue Ant Studios
