UK Film & TV Company Shed Media Opens Shed Media US

UK Film & TV Company Shed Media Opens Shed Media US

Ricochet Television, Wall to Wall, Twenty Twenty, Shed Productions and Outright Distribution Part of New Company

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Multi award-winning British television and film production companies Ricochet Television, Wall to Wall, Twenty Twenty, Shed Productions and Outright Distribution will now operate in the United States as Shed Media US. Nick Emmerson will serve as president of the company and Jennifer O'Connell has been promoted to executive vice president.

Shed Media US has the new reality series "World's Strictest Parents" set to launch on CMT in April. The series is based on the highly successful British format from Twenty Twenty. The company just launched the second season of its hit Bravo series "The Real Housewives of New York City" to record ratings, nearly doubling the premiere episode of its first season. And the company won its first Oscar at last weekend's Academy Awards for the Best Feature Documentary "Man on Wire," directed by James Marsh. The company just greenlit a second doc feature to be helmed by Marsh titled "Dream Diaries," focusing on an exceptional dreamer whose dreams have been archived by the University of California.

Shed Media US is a major supplier to the U.S. market and has a significant base in L.A. with 200 employees. To date it has been commissioned to produce approximately 200 hours of programming and currently serves 11 broadcasters. Shed Media US has had an impressive start to 2009 with 80 hours currently in production. "Supernanny USA" is in its 5th season on ABC and the UK's BBC ratings winner "Who Do You Think You Are?" has been produced for NBC and airs this spring. "Who Do You Think You Are?" is also produced by Lisa Kudrow's Is or Isn't Entertainment and features celebrities such as Kudrow, Susan Sarandon and Sarah Jessica Parker tracing their genealogy. Shed Media US also has a scripted project with HBO and Alan Ball ("Six Feet Under," "True Blood," "American Beauty"). The company has two pilots set at Bravo and Animal Planet as well.

UK subsidiaries of Shed Media US have three of the highest rated series currently airing in the UK: BBC's "Who Do You Think You Are?" and "New Tricks," plus the highly successful "Cowboy Builders" for Five, which was just picked up for a second season of 12 episodes.

Shed Media plc was founded by Eileen Gallagher, CEO Shed Productions, in 1998 and was originally known for dramas such as the highly rated "Footballers' Wives" and "Bad Girls." Shed acquired Ricochet Television in 2005. Ricochet is known for such programmes as "Supernanny," which has been sold in over 50 territories worldwide. Ricochet was founded by Nick Powell, who was later joined by Nick Southgate. Powell continues in his role as CEO of Ricochet. Southgate has recently stepped up to the role of Chief Executive for the Shed Media Group.

The breadth of Shed Media grew in 2006 when the company acquired Outright Distribution, a global television distribution company. In 2007, Shed acquired the multi award-winning production companies Wall to Wall and Twenty Twenty. Wall to Wall's feature documentary "Man on Wire" won the Oscar last weekend. Twenty Twenty Television is well known for its International Emmy Award-winning "Brat Camp."

Southgate, Chief Executive of Shed Media plc, started his career as part of the BBC's acclaimed natural history unit in wildlife filmmaking, eventually setting up his own production company where he produced and directed documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4. He joined Ricochet in 1999, and in 2000, formed Ricochet Digital with Powell. Following Ricochet's acquisition by Shed, Southgate was named COO and later, Chief Executive.

Emmerson has been executive vice president of Ricochet Television USA since 2006. He serves as executive producer of ABC's "Supernanny," Bravo's "The Real Housewives of New York City" and Animal Planet's "It's Me or the Dog." He co-created and served as executive producer of the British version of "Supernanny" before developing it for ABC. Emmerson produced a soccer themed studio show for the 1998 World Cup for Euro Champions. Following that he worked at London Weekend TV as part of the team that launched the ITV2 Network. From 1999-2001 he was a series producer for Princess Productions on "Bedrock," a live children's show for ITV2, "Good Evening Rockall," a current affairs game show for the BBC, and "Jailbreak," a reality competition show for Channel 5, which was their biggest project ever at the time. From 2001-06, Emmerson was an executive producer at Ricochet UK, where he executive produced numerous unscripted specials and series.

O'Connell joined Ricochet Television in 2007 to oversee development and production. She currently serves as executive producer on a number of Shed Media US shows including "The Real Housewives of New York City," "It's Me or the Dog" and the upcoming CMT series "World's Strictest Parents." Prior to producing, she worked at NBC for seven years in two very different capacities. Most recently, she served as vice president of alternative programs where she developed and oversaw production of such hit series as "The Biggest Loser." Her previous NBC role was vice president of the network's longform unit, where she developed the blockbuster miniseries "10.5" and the Emmy Award-winning "The Matthew Shepard Story." O'Connell also spent time at the Disney Channel and the Family Channel.

With the joining of these five entities under Shed Media US, the company is now a one-stop shop for both scripted and unscripted television and feature production. The company is based in Los Angeles with complete production facilities on-site and a noted in-house casting department.

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Source: Shed Media US

CONTACT: Michael Donkis of Prime, +1-310-841-0800, Cell,
+1-310-387-0220, Michael@primeprinc.com, for Shed Media US

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Profile: International Entertainment