TORONTO — Blue Ant Studios announced today it has hired Aileen Gardner (above, left) and Zachary Frank (above, right) for newly created leadership roles within its production and development divisions.
Gardner has been appointed as head of production for Canada, responsible for leading the operations for Blue Ant Studios’ slate of Canadian productions.
Gardner will report to Laura Michalchyshyn, chief creative officer and co-president of global production at Blue Ant Media, and Sam Sniderman, also co-president of global production at the company.
Frank has been hired as vice-president of development at Blue Ant Studios. He will be working with the studio’s team in Los Angeles “to further expand its development slate of limited and returnable series with an emphasis on the Canadian, UK and American markets,” reads a press release.
Frank will report to Jennifer Harkness, senior vice-president of unscripted content at Blue Ant Studios, while working closely with Gardner in Toronto, the release says.
“Blue Ant Studios is always looking to collaborate with best-in-class creatives and development executives to grow an exciting slate filled with original stories, premium talent and returnable series,” said Michalchyshyn, in the release.
“With Aileen’s incredible experience in producing content across multiple genres for global markets; and Zach’s deep network in the development space across the US, Canada and UK, we’re excited to continue Blue Ant Studios’ expansion and debut a fresh lineup of projects and voices to be shared with the world,” she added.
Gardner joins Blue Ant Studios with more than 20 years of experience in broadcast media production across the UK, US and Canada in genres from documentary to lifestyle series. She has worked with companies such as Mentorn, Endemol, Cineflix and Scott Brothers Entertainment.
“Since arriving in Canada she has overseen shows such as the award winning Nazi Hunters (Discovery), the launch of internationally successful American Pickers (A&E) and the reboot of Brother vs Brother (HGTV) among many others,” the release says.
Frank has more than a decade of experience in development and production, having worked with partners across Canada, the US and UK.
Before joining Blue Ant Studios, Frank was senior director at Cream Productions, “where he developed projects for networks including CNN (History of the Sitcom), Discovery ID (If I Should Die), Bell Networks (Fear Thy Roommate), Corus (The World Without), Travel Channel (A Ghost Ruined My Life), and more,” the release says.
Photos provided by Blue Ant Studios.
