History
Universal International Studios had their beginnings in July 2005, when American mass media & entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal launched its own international television production arm that would partner with global media companies to adapt local versions of NBCUniversal's programming library & formats worldwide called NBCUniversal International TV Production as Leslie Jones became president of the company's new global production arm. [1]
In July 2007, NBCUniversal International Television Production expanded its international television production business by launching an international TV production division based in London, England named that would focus on format licensing and developing scripted and reality programming including local adaptations of NBCUniversal's formats for the UK and international markets as part of NBC Universal International's expansion into TV production by Peter Smith (who was NBCUniversal's president at the time) with former NBC Universal Television Studio (now Universal Television) president Angela Bromstad heading the new international production division. [2]
In February 2010, NBCUniversal International Television Production established a joint venture television production subsidiary with NBCUniversal's British film & television production sibling Working Title Films dedicated to produce drama and comedy programmed based in London named Working Title Television. [3]
In May 2011, NBCUniversal International Television Production expanded their global footprint with the acquisition of a majority stake in Australian film & television production house Matchbox Pictures, marking NBCUniversal International Television Production's expansion into the Australian television market outside of the UK as Matchbox Pictures became a subsidiary of the former with them globally distributing Matchbox's projects alongside the latter's founders Tony Ayres, Helen Bowden, Penny Chapman, Michael McMahon and Helen Panckhurst who continued to run the acquired company. [4] NBCUniversal International Television Production would later take full control of Australian film & television production company Matchbox Pictures three years later in late-January 2014. [5]
In December 2013, NBCUniversal International Television Production had pushed into the unscripted television programming genre by launching a dedicated unscripted television production development unit joining NBCUniversal International Television Productions's fellow other owned in-house unscripted production companies namely British studios Monkey Kingdom and Chocolate Media, Australian production house Matchbox Pictures and Canadian production studio Lark Productions - which NBCUniversal International Television Production has a strategic partnership with the Canadian studio being joined into the new unscripted unit as their senior VP of factual & entertainment David Mortimer overseeing the new division. [6]
In November 2021, NBCUniversal International Studios announced their rebranding of the international production subsidiary of Universal Studio Group and renamed it to Universal Internarional Studios in order to match their alignment with its parent company Universal Studio Group and its sibling American scripted television production studios Universal Television, Universal Content Productions and unscripted production studio Universal Television Alternative Studio with the renamed international production division continued to work on their original scripted & unscripted content for international networks including Comcast-owned Sky worldwide alongside NBCUniversal's own streaming service Peacock and licensing NBCUniversal's formats. [7]
In February 2025, Universal International Studios' parent company Universal Studio Group announced a restructuring of their international unscripted production businesses as they were planning to seek a leadership hire for their creative output outside the US by placing Universal International Studios' British unscripted production company Monkey Kingdom and the unscripted division of UIS' Australian production subsidiary Matchbox Pictures under USG's American unscripted television division Universal Television Alternative Studio as its international production hubs. [8]
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