ProSiebenSat.1 in Gurin Alliance

MUNICH: ProSiebenSat.1 Group’s production company, RedSeven Entertainment, and distribution arm, SevenOne International, have inked a two-year co-production deal with Phil Gurin’s U.S. production outfit.

RedSeven and The Gurin Company will develop concepts and produce shows in the variety, light entertainment, reality- and docusoap genres for the German-speaking European territories and for the U.S., Canada and the U.K., with distribution exclusively handled by SevenOne. 

"This cooperation is a very important part of our strategy and will supply our channels with original content from international independent producers," said Michael Schmidt, the senior VP of entertainment for German free TV at ProSiebenSat.1. "I’m very happy that we could win over Phil Gurin for the creative cooperation with our group.”

The Gurin Company, which just celebrated its tenth anniversary, is behind such shows as Do You Trust Me and Singing Bee. "It’s the mission and passion of my company to create world-centric programming that spans generations and borders,” said Gurin. “Partnering with RedSeven Entertainment allows us to produce compelling and entertaining content that will resonate with German-speaking audiences and beyond.”

RedSeven Entertainment has produced Austria’s next Topmodel and Mascerade, among others. Jobst Benthues, the company’s managing director, called the deal with Gurin a "very important step for our company across the pan-European border. With Phil Gurin’s help we will build up a highly creative content pipeline between Europe and North America.”