360 Production, ScreenCut TV Merge to Form Rare TV

360 Production and ScreenCut TV have come together to form the new independent production company Rare TV, specializing in documentaries, popular factual and specialist factual.

Rare TV launches with a slate that includes 360 Production’s BBC hit Contagion!, the long-running BBC franchise Digging for Britain and RTE’s Crimecall as well as ScreenCut’s The Sheriffs Are Coming and Fake Britain.

360 creative director Belinda Cherrington, who spearheaded the expansion of the factual indie, is making a move to the U.S. “It’s been a difficult decision to leave the company at such an exciting time but the merger is a good opportunity for me to finally make a long-planned move to the U.S., where my family is now based.”

Rory Wheeler, who joined 360 as director of U.K. content last fall, becomes U.K. creative director of the new indie. Wheeler said: “This is a company with a great pedigree and big ambitions so it’s a privilege to take on this new role and continue to expand our reach while keeping intelligent, entertaining factual at the heart of everything we do.”

ScreenCut’s Emma Barker will become director of content, while Christian Broadhurst is moving from his previous role as development executive at 360 to the newly created position of Rare TV’s VP of U.S. development.

Antony Fraser, CEO of Rare TV, said: “Over the last four years we have successfully expanded into international markets and broadened our range of unscripted content to include documentary and formatted factual series, feature-length drama docs, landmark history, natural history and science event programming. We are sad to be saying goodbye to Belinda, but, we believe that bringing all of our creative expertise under one roof will allow our best ideas to continue to flourish. We have a very healthy network in the U.K., Ireland, Northern Ireland and the U.S. and, with 80 hours at various stages of production and delivery, moving into 2019 we are well positioned to take a prominent place on the international unscripted stage.”