TORONTO – Indie production company Blink49 Studios, backed by global producer and distributor Fifth Season (formerly Endeavor Content), announced Tuesday it is acquiring a majority stake in Vancouver-based Front Street Pictures.
Marking Blink49’s first corporate acquisition, the strategic investment in Front Street Pictures is aimed at increasing the Toronto-based indie studio’s operations throughout Canada, a press release says.
Blink49 Studios, originally known as Blink Studios, was launched in November 2021 by former Entertainment One executives, including John Morayniss, who serves as the studio’s CEO. Other co-founders include non-executive vice-chair Patrice Theroux, chief operating officer Jeff Lynas and chief financial officer Nelson Kuo-Lee. In addition to its headquarters in Toronto, Blink49 has offices in Los Angeles.
Under the terms of the acquisition, the financial details of which were not disclosed, Front Street Pictures will maintain its brand and continue to be led by its president, Charles Cooper.
Front Street Pictures has operated for more than two decades and produced more than 300 movies and over 150 TV episodes comprising over 700 hours of scripted live action content, according to the press release. The Vancouver company, known for its movie-of-the-week (MOW) productions, recently launched operations in Alberta.
“We’re thrilled to embark on this partnership with Charles and his talented team,” Morayniss said in the release. “Working closely with Charles this past year, I’ve been incredibly impressed with his leadership, production expertise and stellar reputation among industry peers.
“This investment aligns perfectly with our mission to grow our footprint in Canada, including expanding our infrastructure in Vancouver, establishing a presence in Alberta and plans for further growth in the Canadian market and beyond. Front Street Pictures will continue to be a best-in-class production services partner with third-party producers and broadcasters in Canada and around the world,” Morayniss said.
“The partnership with Blink49 Studios will support Front Street Pictures on its continued growth trajectory and focus on the MOW market,” Cooper said. “John’s vision along with the expertise of the team at Blink49 Studios will drive more investment in MOW content production and distribution as well as expansion into the scripted episodic space.”
The partnership between the two companies builds on their current collaboration on two upcoming TV series — detective drama series Sight Unseen for CTV and crime-solving procedural Wild Cards for CBC.
Photos of (l-r) Charles Cooper and John Morayniss provided by Blink49 Studios.
