A+E Networks Launches New Banner for Scripted Content

NEW YORK: A+E Networks is launching a new banner at MIPCOM, A+E Studios International, which will distribute and finance scripted series, TV events and movies.

A+E Studios International makes its debut at MIPCOM with a lineup of some 40 hours of scripted content. This includes the six-hour TV event Sons of Liberty, which will air on HISTORY in the U.S.; the ten-hour series Un-Real, a dark comedy about the production of a dating competition series, set to air on Lifetime in the U.S.; and the Lifetime original movie Big Driver, from a story by Stephen King. Also being launched by A+E Studios International is Whitney (working title), about the late singer/songwritter Whitney Houston.

Additional titles on the slate include If There Be Thorns and Seeds of Yesterday, the final two installments of the V.C. Andrews book series that started with the acclaimed film Flowers in the Attic. There are also two projects currently in production, the fact-based TV event Gangland Undercover (working title) and The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe, and two projects in development, The Liberator and Roots.

“Last year, A+E Networks announced the formation of A+E Studios to allow our company to take greater control of the scripted content commissioned for our domestic channels, HISTORY, A&E and Lifetime,” said Sean Cohan, the executive VP of international for A+E Networks. "The announcement generated tremendous interest from the media and clients.”

“The industry knows us as a source for high-end factual programming,” Cohan continued. “Now that we have ownership over these premium dramas, TV events and movies, it made sense to package and market our scripted content under a new umbrella brand.”