Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) has struck a partnership with UK newspaper the Guardian.
The deal will see SPE handed exclusive first rights to the full range of the Guardian’s global journalism to develop video content. SPE will have access to The Guardian’s current and developing news stories, and to the Guardian archive, containing 200 years of history across articles, blogs, columns, videos and podcasts. The agreement, brokered by Curtis Brown, will be overseen by a new executive team appointed by SPE and the Guardian.
The Guardian already has three option deals in place with SPE that will be announced soon. It also has deals in place with the BBC, Netflix and Sky, and won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short two years ago for Colette.
The collaboration spans the whole of SPE’s television production groups, from its U.S. scripted and nonfiction television divisions, to international production, which includes the likes of The Crown maker Left Bank, His Dark Materials producer Bad Wolf and sports producer Whisper. As well as television, the agreement includes SPE’s feature film division – labels such as 3000 Pictures, Columbia Pictures, TriStar Pictures and Screen Gems.
“To be able to draw on the Guardian’s extraordinary journalism, past, present and future, to create a new generation of dramas, documentaries and movies, is an incredibly exciting opportunity for us at Sony Pictures,” said Sony Pictures Television President of International Production Wayne Garvie.
“We are continually seeking stories that have a distinctive and creative spirit, and connect with audiences the world over, and the Guardian team certainly brings those qualities through their top-notch journalism.”