Videoage International October 2017

48 October 2017 V I D E O A G E By Isme Bennie I n the last decade or so, some of Canada’s best- knownmedia executives – by choice or attrition — have surfaced as leaders in new areas, or, in fact, in new niches, to use a term that reflects so many of their current enterprises. Here’s an abridged list of themoversandshakers (emphasison the moving part) most well-known internationally: Leonard Asper is the president, CEO and majority shareholder of Anthem Media Group Inc., a Canadian company that got its start in combat sports programming with the acquisition of Fight Network in 2010. It has since expanded into three verticals — combat, fantasy sports, and hunting and fishing. Its stable of properties includes FNTSY, offering a wide range of interactive fantasy sports programming; a stake in Pursuit Channel, a U.S. based hunting and fishing network; sports-related ventures such as Rotoexperts and Sports Grid; and is launching an extreme sports channel Edge in conjunction with global sports company IMG. Asper was previously president and CEO of CanWest Global Communications Corporation, one of Canada’s largest media companies. After it went into creditor protection in October 2009, the company sold its assets and Asper stepped down in March 2010. Looking for a business opportunity, he took what he had learned about specialty channels from his CanWest days, and realized there was an opportunity in the combat sports landscape. Now Anthem has cable and satellite subscribers in dozens of countries, with content delivered largely online, via webcasts, smartphone apps and YouTube. “Our focus going forward,” said Asper, as he continues to grow his business “is on content, live events, and information/data/analytics specific to the consumers for our verticals.” Michael Donovan was at the forefront of Eastern Canada’s production industry as co- founder of Salter Street Films. After it was sold to Alliance Atlantis in 2001, Donovan co-founded Halifax Film Co. and in 2006 merged it with Decode Entertainment into DHXMedia. Donovan is its executive chairman. Since its inception DHX has grown into a leading independent children’s content company. In addition to kid-skewed cable channels, it owns one of the world’s largest independent libraries of children’s content, including such renowned brands as Teletubbies, Inspector Gadget, and the Degrassi franchise. Recently it acquired two valuable properties: an 80 percent controlling stake in Peanuts and 100 percent of Strawberry Shortcake . It distributes its content to major broadcasters and streaming services worldwide, and has a robust merchandising program. Through its subsidiary, WildBrain, DHX Media also operates one of the largest networks of children’s content on YouTube. Headquartered in Canada, DHX Media has offices in 15 cities globally, and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. “Our strategy from its founding has been to leverage the explosive growth in digital platforms to become a global leader in children’s and family content andbrands,”Donovan said. “I believe there is ample opportunity to grow DHX Media into a global powerhouse that can compete with even the largest players in the market,” he concluded. Ivan Fecan ran the ascendency of Canadian broadcast behemoth CTV-Globemedia, but in 2010, when it was sold, he announced his resignation. Watching TV in retirement made him antsy. Several companies tried to lure himout of it, but it was only after Lionsgate Entertainment founder Frank Giustra and Peace Arch Entertainment founder TimGamble approached him to join their latest venture, Vancouver’s Thunderbird Films, that he found the right fit. Fecan joined them as chair in April 2013 and recently was appointed interim CEO. “They started reeling me in, step by step. Now I’m pretty much in with both feet. I put in money, became executive chair, and got more interested. You put money in and all of a sudden you start paying real attention,” Fecan was quoted in a May 2016 interview adding that Thunderbird’s goals are to be “a very creative-friendly content company and to bank big on people and brands. We’re quite agnostic about platform. It’s fun.” And so, Fecan is where he wants to be. As the producer and executive producer of the Thunderbird production, Kim’s Convenience , he is able to work again at his life-long passion. “I love returning to my roots as a producer. Full circle,” he told VideoAge . Michael Hirsh , long a dominant force in Canada’s animation business, launched his new venture Wow! Unlimited Media, this spring, hoping to create one of the world’s largest publicly- traded independent animation firms. Wow! is the amalgamation of core companies Rainmaker, Mainframe Studios, and Frederator Networks. Its auspicious beginning included orders from Netflix and Amazon Studios. “This is my next venture into kids’ programming,” Hirsh (who is Wow’s CEO and board chair) recently told The Globe and Mail . “Our strategy is building platforms that focus on youth. It’s an opportunity to build a next- generation company to lead the industry.” The company will focus on digital platforms, content and merchandising, but in June it acquired a channel from Bell Media to rebrand as Wow for children and youth programming. Hirsh is quoted as saying that the deal helps satisfy Wow’s goal of “building the triple play — bringing linear together with OTT and mobility.” Hirsh has built and sold off two large animation companies. In 1971, he and two partners founded Nelvana, which he sold to Corus Entertainment in 2000. In 2003, Hirsh started Cookie Jar, which in 2012 he sold to DHXMedia, staying on for three years as the company’s executive chair. Now, in 2017, he is back in the business he knows so well. Robert Lantos has been a key figure in the development of contemporary Canadian cinema as one of its most powerful producers of both film and television. In the 1980s and 1990s, he was chair and CEO of Alliance Communications Corporation, one of Canada’s largest film and televisionproductionanddistributioncompanies. In September 1998, Lantos merged Alliance withMichaelMcMillan`s Atlantis to formAlliance Great White North’s TV Bigwigs Still Going Strong In New Ventures Canada’s TV Pioneers (Continued on Page 50) Ivan Fecan Leonard Asper Michael McMillan