It’s never to late to jump on the “peak TV” bandwagon and when your potential new overlord is looking for streaming content you might say it’s right on time. So it wasn’t that big a surprise that Fox Searchlight announced today its forming a television division to take advantage of two decades of Oscar-winning talent relationships.
Longtime execs David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield who have been promoted to Presidents of Production for Film and Television effective immediately, adding Searchlight Television to their current responsibilities including all aspects of production for the company. Their goal will be to produce original material as well as utilize the studio’s rich library of feature films for adaptation in broadcast television, cable and streaming with forays into scripted series, limited series, documentaries and more. But streaming should be the emphasis here as Searchlight can attempt to use relationships with filmmakers such as Guillermo del Toro (who just signed a long term deal with the studio), Wes Anderson or Danny Boyle as well as actors such as Natalie Portman and Frances McDormand to create prestige content for Hulu or Disney’s streaming service once the Disney-Fox merger is approved. They can also take the lead developing television counterparts to films such as “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” “Roll Bounce,” “(500) Days of Summer,” “Sexy Beast” or “Napoleon Dynamite,” just to name a few intriguing possibilities.
In a press release from the studio Fox Searchlight Pictures Presidents Nancy Utley and Steve Gilula noted, “At such an exciting moment for the company, we feel it is the perfect time to provide new avenues for visionary and innovative talent as well as to recognize the contributions of David and Matthew.”
Added Stacey Snider, Chairman and CEO, Twentieth Century Fox Film, “The relationships that the Searchlight team forges with talent are deep and abiding. It only makes sense to extend these relationships into television so Searchlight can continue to tell great stories on every platform.”
Peter Rice, President, 21st Century Fox, and Chairman and CEO, Fox Networks Group, noted, “At such an exciting time for storytelling, all the Fox channels and studios are thrilled to be collaborating with Searchlight as it expands its unique brand of groundbreaking excellence into television.”
And lastly, Greenfield and Greenbaum remarked, “Searchlight has always been dedicated to bringing the unique stories of passionate creators to audiences worldwide. This evolution allows us to expand upon that mission, and provides our talent new opportunities to tell their stories in the widest variety of creative outlets, all the while maintaining the safe haven and dedicated creative approach that is Searchlight’s hallmark.”
Fox Searchlight recently released “The Shape of Water” which won four Oscars including Best Picture. Wes Anderson’s “Isle of Dogs” is currently in theaters and “Super Troopers 2” opens April 20.