Authentic Brands Group Forms 'Authentic Studios'
Home to Studio 99, Jersey Legends, Sports Illustrated Studios and Authentic Productions, ‘Authentic Studios’ Will Create New Content Opportunities
Authentic Brands Group (Authentic), a global brand development, marketing and entertainment platform, today announced the formation of “Authentic Studios,” a full-service production studio designed to develop and produce a wide range of film/TV and commercial content from Authentic’s vast portfolio of brands. Authentic Studios is based in Beverly Hills, where Authentic recently expanded its presence with a newly-minted 15,000 square foot West Coast headquarters.
Authentic Studios was created in the wake of the company’s rapid expansion of its Entertainment division, which includes the world’s most recognizable icons, living legends and media brands such as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali, Shaquille O’Neal, David Beckham and Sports Illustrated. Its portfolio of more than 40 global superbrands also includes Reebok, Juicy Couture, Ted Baker, Brooks Brothers, Forever 21 and more. Authentic Studios allows the company to leverage this vast portfolio of IP and maximize value through comprehensive content, merchandise and experiences.
Authentic Studios currently comprises four labels: Shaquille O’Neal’s Jersey Legends, David Beckham’s Studio 99, Sports Illustrated Studios, and Authentic Productions. Under Authentic Studios, each label is well positioned for multitier content distribution across television, film and streaming platforms. Additionally, Authentic Studios will look for new material to develop and produce, as well as participate in co-production and financing opportunities with third parties around their original content.
“Authentic Studios is unique in its ability to leverage Authentic’s in-house roster of brands and a deep catalog of IP to develop and produce content in all forms with 360-rights control,” said Colin Smeeton, President of Authentic Studios. “Each of our four labels features a style of storytelling resulting in compelling content for all traditional and streaming mediums.”
Smeeton joined Authentic more than seven years ago after being among the key executives who helped build Shaquille O’Neal’s personal brand expansion, strategic partnerships and new business ventures. He has since been at the forefront of developing Authentic’s entertainment business drawing on over 20 years of experience in film, television and documentaries. Most recently, Smeeton executive produced the Emmy nominated documentary series, SHAQ for HBO and has produced multiple projects for Lionsgate, ABC, ESPN, TNT and Netflix.
UK media executive Nicola Howson, who co-founded Studio 99 with David Beckham and David Gardner, will continue to lead the business from Authentic’s London office, and Jersey Legends co-founder Mike Parris will continue to run the day-to-day business alongside Smeeton and serve as an executive producer for its content.
Both O’Neal’s Jersey Legends and Beckham’s Studio 99 have thriving commercial divisions where they provide in-house production services for commercial content and high-end creative development, servicing a range of partners and clients. This provides turn-key solutions, allowing partners to operate against tighter production schedules, while creating stronger collaboration and more unified brand storytelling from concept to production.
O’Neal’s Jersey Legends most recently produced the Sports Emmy-nominated SHAQ, a four-part docu-series from HBO that chronicled Shaq’s ascent to superstardom and has multiple projects in various stages of development. It also won an Academy Award in the category of Best Documentary Short for Queen of Basketball in 2021.
Studio 99’s production slate includes World War Shoe, a documentary for Disney + that chronicles the incredible sibling rivalry that spawned the two global sneaker giants Puma and Adidas; a new biopic of world snooker legend Ronnie O’ Sullivan, a premium documentary series for Netflix charting the life and career of David Beckham; and as yet unannounced series for Amazon and ESPN. Studio 99 has recently delivered Save Our Squad for Disney + and Fever Pitch, a history of the Premier League, for Paramount Plus.
Sports Illustrated Studios is set to produce a highly anticipated HBO documentary alongside George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s Smoke House Pictures and 101 Studios, based on the bombshell article from Sports Illustrated chronicling systemic sexual abuse within the Ohio State wrestling program. The documentary will be directed by Academy and Emmy Award winner, Eva Orner. The Studio is focused on developing and producing a range of scripted, alternative and documentary projects that originate from the media powerhouse’s vast library that features seven decades of storytelling, to be distributed across premium cable and streaming platforms.
Authentic Productions will develop content for all formats and platforms around Authentic’s roster of icons, living legends, media properties and superbrands. Coming off of a banner year with the Golden Globe-winning and Academy Award-nominated Elvis and Netflix critically acclaimed animated series, Agent Elvis, Authentic Productions is in various stages of development on feature films, scripted series, docuseries, animation, musicals, new media and live events around Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali and other Authentic brands.
About Authentic Brands Group
Authentic Brands Group (Authentic) is a global brand development, marketing and entertainment platform, which owns a portfolio of more than 40 iconic and world-renowned Lifestyle, Entertainment and Media brands. Headquartered in New York City, with offices around the world, Authentic connects strong brands with best-in-class partners and a global network of operators, distributors and retailers to build long-term value in the marketplace. Its brands generate approximately $25 billion* in global annual retail sales and have an expansive retail footprint in more than 150 countries, including 10,800-plus* freestanding stores and shop-in-shops and 380,000 points of sale.
Authentic is committed to transforming brands by delivering powerful storytelling, compelling content, innovative business models and immersive experiences. It creates and activates original marketing strategies to drive the success of its brands across all consumer touchpoints, platforms and emerging media. Authentic’s brand portfolio includes Marilyn Monroe®, Elvis Presley®, Muhammad Ali®, Shaquille O’Neal®, David Beckham®, Dr. J®, Greg Norman®, Neil Lane®, Thalia®, Sports Illustrated®, Reebok®, Brooks Brothers®, Barneys New York®, Judith Leiber®, Ted Baker®, Hervé Léger®, Hickey Freeman®, Vince®*, Frye®, Nautica®, Juicy Couture®, Vince Camuto®, Lucky Brand®, Aéropostale®, Forever 21®, Nine West®, Eddie Bauer®, Spyder®, Volcom®, Shark®, Tretorn®, Prince®, Airwalk®, Izod®, Jones New York®, Van Heusen®, Hart Schaffner Marx®, Arrow® and Thomasville®. *Pending acquisition in Q2 2023.
For more information, visit authentic.com.
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Media Contact:
Rosenfield Media Group, Inc.
Zachary Rosenfield
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