Bob & Co Reorganizes as the Anthology Group

Bob & Co has been reorganized and rebranded as the Anthology Group, which will develop and produce scripted and unscripted TV, film, digital and theater content.

The newly formed group is the parent to Anthology Studios, which comprises six TV and film production companies (two of which are entirely new scripted production businesses), a theater production company and an established licensing company. Also part of the group is Anthology Advisory, which will continue to advise on investment opportunities in theater and across all media platforms.

Founder Bob Benton and Group CEO Hilary Strong will be joined by Jeremy Mills in his new role as chairman of Anthology Studios, which will initially focus on factual, comedy and drama production.

Benton said, “This is an incredibly exciting moment for the company. Launching Anthology will allow us to move forward as a fully equipped production group, telling the best stories across television, theatre and film platforms alongside our existing investment and licensing businesses. Our focus is to develop and produce scripted and unscripted television, film, digital and theatre content and the new infrastructure will allow us to do that on an international scale.”

Strong said, “Bob Benton is a true visionary who has pulled together distinct production talent and companies and has combined those with a unique fund, the Cultural Capital Fund, to create a genuinely diverse group, where each part will benefit from the expertise and talents of the others. This level of diversity early on in the life of a new media group is unusual and I am excited both by the creative and by the commercial opportunities that it opens up. It is the right time to own rights, to finance their development and to have the talent to produce and exploit these across multiple media platforms within a single group. I look forward very much to the storytelling that will ensue.”

Mills said, “Anthology Studios has a huge range of talent within it, with a number of well-established production companies and two new scripted ventures; Mischief Screen, focusing on the unique creative talents of the team behind the ‘Goes Wrong’ theater brand and Rockfleet, formed around the exciting skills of Emma Smithwick and Phoebe Bourke, which will specialize in scripted comedy and drama TV. With the new structure now in place we are looking forward to strengthening relationships with broadcasters and other international partners.”