Shaftesbury Adds Digital-Media Division

TORONTO/BANFF, June 9:
Shaftesbury Films has acquired Smokebomb Entertainment, a developer of original
multiplatform digital content, with Smokebomb’s executive producers, Daniel
Dales and Jarrett Sherman, heading up the newly created digital-media division.

Smokebomb’s name remains
intact and the company will move into Shaftesbury’s headquarters in mid-summer,
working on a development and production slate that includes a minimum of two
original online series for production in the first year. Shaftesbury and
Smokebomb’s next major project is the online companion for the upcoming drama
series The Listener
(CTV/NBC/Fox International), which will feature a prelaunch audio and visual
marketing campaign, a web portal and cross-platform integration.

“Jarrett Sherman and
Daniel Dales have demonstrated remarkable talent and insight for developing
stories and entertainment for new and emerging outlets,” said Christina Jennings, the chair and CEO of Shaftesbury Films. “We’re
looking forward to exploiting the multiplatform world together.”

“We are both committed to
producing online programs that will redefine original entertainment for the
web,” said Dales. “We believe that the Internet opens up huge opportunities for
compelling story-telling and much deeper connections with our audience,” added
Sherman. “We will deliver the best entertainment to the widest audience
possible.”

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski