Two of Universal Studio Group’s TV divisions have struck a development deal with South Shore, the How to Cook with Stars Producer run by Andrew MacKenzie and Melanie Leach, former bosses of Twofour.
South Shore announced the agreement at Content London today. It will allow South Shore to co-develop, co-produce and distribute a minimum number of unscripted international projects with Universal Television Alternative Studio UTAS and Universal International Studios UIS. Social experiments, reality and contest formats will all be the main focus.
South Shore will have access to Universal’s transatlantic resources including talent and IP as the pair seek a non-scripted pipeline.
“We’ve enjoyed developing recent projects with the UTAS & UIS teams and we’re thrilled to be working on these three projects with them,” Leach and MacKenzie said so.
The pair, who ran Twofour for several years, launched ITV Studios-backed South Shore in 2019 and the company has since produced the likes of BBC One’s Freddie Flintoff’s Field of Dreams, ITV’s How to Cook with Stars The Channel 4 Property Format Selling Super Prime.
This news is coming in the same week UIS has signed an exclusive agreement with Home Team (the scripted outfit managed by The End of the F***ing WorldDominic Buchanan, execMogul Mowgli’sBennett McGhee.
UTAS’ UK version of Jimmy Fallon’s That’s My Jam For the BBC, this program will be airing later in 2012, while Mo Gilligan hosts and Monkey coproduces.