{"id":24412,"date":"2026-02-17T13:31:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T18:31:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/universal-international-studios-closing-matchbox-pictures\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T14:11:05","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T19:11:05","slug":"universal-international-studios-closing-matchbox-pictures-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/universal-international-studios-closing-matchbox-pictures-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Universal International Studios Closing Matchbox Pictures"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Universal International Studios (UIS) is closing the Australian production label Matchbox Pictures after nearly two decades of operation.<\/p>\n<p>Matchbox, originally founded by Tony Ayres, Penny Chapman, Helen Bowden, Michael McMahon and Helen Pankhurst, is known for <em>Critical Incident<\/em>, <em>House of Gods<\/em>,<em> Safe Harbor<\/em>, <em>Dog Park<\/em> and many more.<\/p>\n<p>Tony Ayres Productions, founded by Ayres in 2018 with backing from Matchbox and UIS, will also close as a result.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFollowing an extensive evaluation of the business and the broader production landscape, Matchbox will be closing after 18 years, 12 years since its NBCU acquisition,\u201d UIS said in a statement. \u201cUniversal International Studies maintains its commitment to Australia, but as strategic priorities shift, the studio is evolving its operating model in the region. Moving forward, the company will evaluate production opportunities and engage with local producers and talent on a case-by-case basis as new projects emerge.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Universal International Studios (UIS) is closing the Australian production label Matchbox Pictures after nearly two decades of operation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1412,"featured_media":24413,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[70],"tags":[2364,11940,11939],"class_list":["post-24412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-matchbox-pictures","tag-uis","tag-universal-international-studios","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Universal International Studios Closing Matchbox Pictures - TVDRAMA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/universal-international-studios-closing-matchbox-pictures-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Universal International Studios Closing Matchbox Pictures - TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Universal International Studios (UIS) is closing the Australian production label Matchbox Pictures after nearly two decades of operation.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/universal-international-studios-closing-matchbox-pictures-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-02-17T18:31:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-17T19:11:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2026\/02\/MatchboxPictures-0226.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"571\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"352\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jamie Stalcup\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jamie Stalcup\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/universal-international-studios-closing-matchbox-pictures-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/universal-international-studios-closing-matchbox-pictures-2\/\",\"name\":\"Universal International Studios Closing Matchbox Pictures - TVDRAMA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-17T18:31:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-17T19:11:05+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/0da12602224807cc7b179b8405018deb\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/universal-international-studios-closing-matchbox-pictures-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/universal-international-studios-closing-matchbox-pictures-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/universal-international-studios-closing-matchbox-pictures-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Universal International Studios Closing Matchbox Pictures\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/\",\"name\":\"TVDRAMA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/0da12602224807cc7b179b8405018deb\",\"name\":\"Jamie Stalcup\",\"description\":\"Jamie Stalcup is the executive editor of World Screen. 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