Global film and TV studio Fifth Season has entered into a new strategic partnership with Vancouver-based production company Front Street Pictures to represent international rights for its slate of leading TV movies. This partnership further strengthens Fifth Season’s long-term collaboration with Blink49 ("Wild Cards", "Sight Unseen", "Queen of the Castle") – the global content venture backed by Fifth Season and the majority owner of Front Street Pictures. It also marks the distributor’s expansion into a new genre of programming.
The strategic partnership between Fifth Season and Front Street Pictures will cover a variety of TV movie genres, including Christmas, romance, mystery, action, and horror. These titles are produced for North American networks such as Hallmark, Lifetime, and Tubi. The initial slate represented by Fifth Season includes “The Groomsmen”, a romantic comedy trilogy for Hallmark starring B.J. Britt ("Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D"., "Being Mary Jane"), Jonathan Bennett ("Mean Girls"), and Tyler Hynes ("Three Wise Men and a Baby"), which is set to debut on Hallmark this autumn; “Family Affair”, a film inspired by Mary J. Blige’s hit song of the same name and executive produced by Blige, set to premiere on Lifetime in 2025; “Family Practice Mysteries: Coming Home”, a medical mystery starring Amanda Schull ("Center Stage") which premiered earlier this year on Hallmark; and “Scouting For Christmas”, a holiday romance starring Tamera Mowry-Housley ("Sister Sister"), debuting on Hallmark this Christmas, among others.
In 2023, Blink49 Studios acquired a majority stake in Front Street Pictures. This deal allows Blink49 to expand its operations into Western Canada while accelerating growth in the Movie-of-the-Week (MOW) business. Meanwhile, Front Street Pictures will increase its production slate and invest in content and global distribution capacity. With over two decades of production services experience, Front Street has produced more than 300 movies and 150 episodes of television and recently expanded its operations to Alberta.
Prentiss Fraser, President of TV Distribution at Fifth Season, sees the agreement as a natural extension:“As we continue to integrate with our strategic investment companies and their partners, coming on board to represent Front Street Pictures’ leading TV movie slate is a natural extension of our strong partnership with Blink49. Front Street Pictures is an ideal partner for us to build out this new vertical in television distribution, and with confirmed volume, it allows us to secure long-term partnerships with broadcasters and platforms internationally," commented.
Also, Charles Cooper, President of Front Street Picturesp praised their partners: “Fifth Season’s leading global distribution capabilities made them the ideal partner for Front Street Pictures’ TV movie slate. We look forward to continuing the expansion of Front Street Pictures’ content and production footprint through this partnership with Fifth Season," noted.
Finally, Nelson Kuo-Lee, Chief Operating Officer of Blink49 Studios views the agreement as a step forward: “One of our key strategic initiatives with our investment in Front Street Pictures has been the development of a robust international distribution strategy for MOW content. This partnership with Fifth Season is a significant step forward in achieving that goal, reinforcing our commitment to bringing Front Street’s exceptional TV movie slate to global audiences," stated.
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