History
Boat Rocker Studios was first established by Temple Street Productions in June 2013 as its digital studio. [1] [2]
In February 2016, after Fairfax Financial made a majority investment in Temple Street, the company announced a restructuring that would establish a new publicly-traded parent company known as Boat Rocker Media. Temple Street's co-presidents David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg would serve as co-CEOs of the company, which would consist of five main divisions: Boat Rocker Studios, Boat Rocker Rights (distribution), Boat Rocker Animation, Boat Rocker Brands (intellectual property), [3] and Boat Rocker Ventures. Fortier explained that the restructuring would allow the company to pursue new investments and multi-platform ventures, while Fortier and Scheeberg stated that they aimed to "build a platform for the creation and distribution of world-class content of all kinds, with the same core business and creative philosophies we've had from the start but on a much greater scale." [4] [5] [6]
Boat Rocker Rights' first outside distribution deal was with the acquisition of international rights to Steve Rotfeld Productions' Xploration Station programs in late-February 2016. [7] In March 2016, Boat Rocker Media announced its acquisition of Toronto-based studio Radical Sheep Productions, producer of series such as The Big Comfy Couch and The Next Step . [8] [9] Then in June 2016, the unit acquired the Mountain Road Productions library, and reached a first-look deal with the company. [10]
In August 2016, Boat Rocker Media acquired the Ottawa-based animation studio Jam Filled Entertainment; the company would operate as a subsidiary studio under Boat Rocker's children's and family unit, with its existing management (including president Kyle Mac Dougall, and creative directors Jamie Leclaire and Phil Lafrance) reporting to CEO John Young. [11] [12] Later that month, Boat Rocker acquired the library and distribution arm of unscripted producer Peace Point Entertainment Group, [13] [14] [15] while Jam Filled acquired the assets of Toronto-based 3D animation studio Arc Productions (which had entered receivership the previous month). [16]
In April 2017, Boat Rocker Ventures made a US$8.5 million Series A investment in New York-based edutainment software company MarcoPolo Learning. The investment also included a strategic partnership with Boat Rocker Studios to co-develop television and digital content based on MarcoPolo's characters. [17] In May 2017, Boat Rocker Studios announced that it would merge its factual and unscripted operations into a new unit known as Crooked Horse Productions; the Temple Street Productions label would focus solely on scripted productions from then on. [18]
In September 2017, following the death of its founder and president Guy O'Sullivan, Boat Rocker Media acquired the Toronto-based unscripted studio Proper Television—producer of series such as Canada's Worst Driver , MasterChef Canada , and Vegas Rat Rods among others. [19] [20] [21]
In January 2018, Boat Rocker acquired the Kids and Family Entertainment division of FremantleMedia; the company divested the library to focus more on its other core entertainment divisions. [22] [23] [24] In May 2018, Boat Rocker acquired a 70% majority stake in Toronto-based Insight Productions; the company would continue to operate independently. [25] In November 2018, Boat Rocker acquired the New York and Los Angeles-based unscripted studio Matador Content, marking its first foray into the American market. [26] It also made an investment in the Toronto Arrows of Major League Rugby. [27] The following month, Boat Rocker's distribution and brands units were brought under the Studios unit led by Jon Rutherford. [28]
In March 2019, Boat Rocker invested in the talent management and production company Untitled Entertainment. [29] In September 2019, Boat Rocker acquired Platform One Media, a Los Angeles-based studio founded by Orphan Black executive producer Katie O’Connell. [30] [31] In October 2019, the company signed a first-look deal with Dakota Johnson's TeaTime Pictures. [32] In November 2020, Platform One Media signed a first-look deal with Lena Headey's Peephole Productions. [33]
On December 8, 2020, Platform One Media was renamed Boat Rocker Studios, Scripted, with Katie O’Connell Marsh being promoted to vice-chairwoman of Boat Rocker Studios. In addition, Matador Content co-founder Jay Peterson was promoted to head of Boat Rocker Studios, Unscripted, with his partner Todd Lubin succeeding him as head of Matador Content. Shortly afterward on December 18, Temple Street Productions was closed and folded into Boat Rocker Studios, Scripted. [34] [35]
In March 2021, Boat Rocker announced a new unscripted studio known as Maven with former ITV Studios America executive Jessica Sebastian-Dayeh, focusing on "female-led narratives and emerging voices". [36] [37] On December 20, 2021, Boat Rocker acquired a minority stake in TeaTime Pictures, with Dakota Johnson transitioning to an overall deal. [38]
In March 2022, as part of a reorganization, Boat Rocker merged its unscripted division into the Los Angeles-based scripted division. Steve Lescroart and Jay Peterson would remain head of scripted and unscripted respectively, with Lescroart additionally named chief operating officer of the unit. [39] In August 2023, Peterson stepped down as president of unscripted in favour of Todd Lubin. [40] In August 2024, Boat Rocker acquired the remaining 30% share of Insight Productions that it did not already own. [41]
On March 24, 2025, Blue Ant Media (which shares Fairfax as an investor) announced its intent to acquire portions of Boat Rocker Media as part of a reverse takeover; Blue Ant will acquire Insight Productions, Jam Filled Entertainment, Proper Television, and the current Boat Rocker corporate entity, which will be renamed Blue Ant Media Corporation and have 26.5% of its stock held by Boat Rocker's shareholders. The remainder of Boat Rocker (including Boat Rocker Studios and its brand licensing divisions) will be sold in a management buyout to a new entity known as IDJCo for $18 million, which will be led by Boat Rocker's lead executive team; following the completion of the transactions, IDJCo will trade as Boat Rocker Media. [42] [43]
