Distraction Aligns with Australian Producer

MONTREAL, October 2:
Distraction has made its first foray into the production business, joining
forces with dSP Beyond to produce versions of its formats in Australia and New
Zealand.

The new joint venture, dSP
Beyond Distraction, will produce Distraction’s format catalogue in Australia
and New Zealand, as well as develop new formats for the global market. dSP
Beyond Distraction’s first commission comes from SBS for the The Next Great
Leader from CBC Canada. The format
deal was brokered by Victoria Baldock (Verve Entertainment), as Distraction’s
sales representative for Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

The alliance with dSP
Beyond—founded in 2005 as a collaboration between Denis Spencer
Productions and Beyond International—also expands Distraction’s
distribution catalogue. Distraction will be the exclusive international
distributor outside of Australia and New Zealand for all dSP Beyond formats.
Distraction has added the prime-time ratings hit Your Money Sorted, recently commissioned for a second season on New
Zealand’s TVOne, to its MIPCOM slate.

Mikael Borglund, the
managing director and CEO of Beyond International, and Dennis Spencer said in a
joint statement: “Having a successful leading independent format distributor
like Distraction as a partner is a must for TV production companies. dSP Beyond
is excited to be joining forces with this entrepreneurial company to produce
their formats in Australia and New Zealand.”

Michel Rodrigue, the president and CEO of Distraction, added: “I am very excited
about this new venture with these superb Australian partners. This foray into
the world of production is the first of many steps to be taken by Distraction…”

—By Mansha Daswani