TVUSA
Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment has partnered with industry veteran David Ozer to launch the U.S.-based production company Landmark Studio Group.
Landmark, which will be headquartered in New York with offices in Los Angeles, is a fully integrated entertainment company focused on ownership, development and production of quality entertainment franchises. Ozer will serve as Landmark’s chief executive officer.
Landmark will develop, produce, distribute and own all of the IP it creates, building its own library. The studio will be independent, having the ability to sell its content to any network or platform, while also developing and producing original content for Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment’s recently acquired AVOD service Crackle. Landmark will control all worldwide rights and will distribute through Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment’s Screen Media division.
Ozer will spearhead the company’s content development and production operations. During his time at IDW Entertainment as founding president from 2013-18, Ozer oversaw the independent mini-studio’s overall operations and focused on developing, producing and distributing content, including three seasons of Wynonna Earp for Syfy and two seasons of Dirk Gently for BBC America. He also oversaw the development of Locke & Key and V-Wars for Netflix. Ozer has also held executive-level positions at several multinational media corporations, including executive VP of television at Starz Media, senior VP of domestic television at RHI Entertainment, head of worldwide distribution at Sonar, senior VP of sales at DIC Entertainment and VP of sales at Sony Pictures Television.
Landmark has several television and film projects in development, including The Fix, a scripted drama series that explores sports corruption; The History of Gangster Rap, a documentary series based on the best-selling book by Soren Baker, who serves as producer along with Jorge Hinojosa and Ice-T, and features Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube and many others; and Safehaven, a supernatural horror series based on the graphic novel about a female comic book artist whose drawings come alive to haunt her.
Landmark will also be producing various stand-up comedy specials and animated series.
In addition to Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, Cole Strategic Partners has committed funding to Landmark.
“All of us at Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment are thrilled to be in business with David Ozer. He has the ability and talent to turn Landmark into a high-volume content production operation that we anticipate will provide an additional revenue stream for our company while mitigating production risk,” said William J. Rouhana Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment. “We expect Landmark to provide valuable original content to Crackle and the other six AVOD networks that are part of our Crackle Plus subsidiary, as well as our other Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment divisions.”
“It’s incredible what Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment is creating in the AVOD space, and I’m excited to launch Landmark as an important studio operation for tomorrow’s media consumers,” said Ozer. “With the support of Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment, we are poised to become a significant player in the global content marketplace.”
“We are thrilled to join forces with Bill and David to launch Landmark, which we anticipate will become a major force in the entertainment industry,” said Simon Misselbrook, president of Cole Strategic Partners.
