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When veteran producer John Morayniss hung out his shingle as Blink49 Studios five years ago, he knew the company’s work would be markedly different from his past experiences at Alliance Atlantis and Entertainment One.
But Morayniss had no idea how dramatically the industry would shape-shift in ways that suited his young and nimble operation.
“When we launched, we had a point of view that the creator economy was headed to where it’s currently headed, and so we wanted to launch more as a pure-play content business that was really focused on development, R & D, making content and providing a solution and support for creators of all kinds and storytellers of all kinds,” Morayniss tells Variety. “Even though our previous businesses all had a very strong distribution component to them, we felt that was changing. So we said, OK, it’s not that we don’t want to build a library and build distribution, but maybe there’s a different paradigm now, and so we purposely launched focusing more as a pure-play content company.”
As Blink49 Studios turns 5, the company is riding high on a strong start for scripted mystery drama “YAGA,” which is airing on AMC+ in the U.S. and on Bell Media’s Crave streamer in Canada, and reality series “The Golden Life,” airing on E! in the U.S. The ensemble cast of “YAGA,” based on a popular play by Kat Sandler, features Hudson Williams of “Heated Rivalry” fame, which has helped the show gain sampling. It’s a big win for Blink49’s Pancho Mansfield, who joined Morayniss from the start of Blink49 as president of global scripted television.
At the same time, the company is about to unleash its first microdrama series, “Murder at the Mansion,” produced in partnership with Uber Eats. Branded content has been a priority that has grown under the direction of Tara Long, president of global unscripted television and studio ventures. Long leads the team that includes Adam Puchalsky as head of Blink49’s Brand Studio, while Mickey Meyer leads Creator Studios and Vertical Content is headed by Tieren Hawkins.
“There’s a language that’s spoken on the brand side and with advertisers that is very different from when you’re trying to develop something and pitch something to a traditional platform,” Morayniss observes. “We realized that the brand-funded model and starting to tell stories and creating cultural connection between brands and an audience was something that we needed to be a part of.”
LISTEN to the full interview with John Morayniss on Variety’s ‘Strictly Business’ podcast
Among other series that Blink49 has delivered, either through production services or as the originator of a concept, are “Wild Cards,” “I’m Not Here to Hurt You,” “Late Bloomer,” “Beast Games,” “Fear Factor: House of Fear” and “The Golden Life.” It’s also busy in production on two documentary films, one about the New York Knicks’ NBA Finals victory, and “The Greatest Song Ever Made,” with music influencer Jaeki Cho.
The rising influence of creators and brands in the content world has reinforced Morayniss’ initial hunch regarding distribution. And it’s a seismic shift from the world he came up in as a producer at Canada’s Alliance Atlantis and the U.K.’s Entertainment One.
“We felt there the business was headed to an area where owning a relationship with an audience was becoming more important than necessarily owning the specific piece of content,” Morayniss says. “What’s new is having a direct relationship with the audience. Now it’s it’s really about connecting the dots between the legacy businesses and the creator economy businesses.”
The Blink49 team offers capital and infrastructure and know-how when it comes to working with ambitious creators.
“We have the infrastructure to help them monetize their content outside of whatever ecosystem they’re already in, expanding into consumer products, licensing and merchandising. It’s about how to do we help them do something that they’re not doing on their own,” he says.
Blink49 Studios has also been acquisitive in the effort to bulk up the capabilities it offers creative partners. The first purchase was a majority stake in Vancouver-based Front Street Pictures, a production services firm that gives Blink49 great flexibility in deal making. It has also struck deals with Pier21 Films (which brought in the Crave comedy series “Late Bloomer”), Stapleview and Lighthearted Entertainment. Its talent partnerships include first-look deals with Andrew Phung and Scott Townend, Emma Roberts’ Belletrist Productions and Will Arnett’s Electric Ave banner. Lloyd Segan and Shawn Piller’s Piller/Segan banner brought the company the blue-sky drama “Wild Cards,” which airs on the CW and CBC.
Morayniss’ challenge as CEO is to keep all of the Blink49 units working together and collaborating as much as possible to bring out the greatest potential in the company’s projects.
“Our bread-and-butter business is still the original content game, scripted and unscripted, developing shows, packaging them and selling them to buyers,” he says. “We don’t do everything. We love the idea of working with the partners — strategic or otherwise, creative or otherwise, financial and distribution — that all are in the mix as we’re putting this together. It allows us to keep our eye on the ball, which is to keep moving these shows forward creatively and supporting these creators these storytellers as best we can.”
(Pictured top: Hudson Williams in “YAGA.”)
