Gavin Reardon: "Our films have always stood out above the rest"

Incendo’s 20th anniversary is this year, but because of the global pandemic, the Canadian production and distribution company has extended the date to push it into next year, where they will officially celebrate 21 years. "We have primarily produced high-quality TV movies,   averaging five films a year, for Lifetime in the United States," commented Gavin Reardon, International Sales & Co-Production executive at Incendo, to Señal News."In 2019, we transitioned from thriller genre TV movies, which were hugely successful for a long time, to romantic comedies produced for Hallmark and other family oriented channels in the United States," he added.

Incendo TV movies are incredibly successful in Canada and around the world. In Latin America, the slate was licensed through Twentieth Century Fox and most of the global buyers are familiar with them. "We have also been focused on developing and producing TV series. We co-produced the television program 'Crusoe' for NBC in the late 2000’s, and most recently, we were the co-production partner on 'Versailles'," he asserted.

On the distribution side, Incendo is licensing TV movies and series worldwide as well as acquiring third-party content to feed its pipeline. "We have great relationships around the globe as a result of the type of programming that we produce, as well as the quality. I think our films have always stood out above the rest because of the amount of money we put on the screen, the strength of the actors, and overall quality of the production," highlighted Gavin.

With an extra focus on the United States in terms of development, the company recently hired Holly Hines, an executive who has an extensive track record of developing high-end content. "We brought Holly in to elevate the content that we're taking out to the market, both in the United States and internationally," Reardon said.

Changing landscape

According to Gavin, the market has fundamentally changed, particularly around how the global pandemic has accelerated the way in which television is consumed and therefore, who's buying it. "F.A.S.T. channels weren’t a thing a year and a half ago.Today, there's a lot more opportunity, but at lower license fees, which has created a challenge," explained the executive. “We’re in discussions directly with our broadcast partners around the world at the MIPCOM and MIA markets to come up with solutions.  At the moment, we have several projects for various partners that we are looking to work with internationally. Additionally, we're also looking at boarding projects that are either already completed or in development with anchor broadcasters in Europe where we can serve as co-producer and/or distributor, so we're very active in that space again," he appointed.

As for future goals, Incendo will continue with the production of high-end TV movies, alongside an exciting development slate of multi-genre content including a focus on drama-themed television series.

By Romina Rodríguez and Karla Flores