ITV Studios Invests in Jason Blumhouse’s TV Studio

ITV Studios has secured a 45-percent interest in Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Television, which is prepping a Roger Ailes limited series for Showtime.

Blumhouse Television launched under Blumhouse in 2012. It has produced such shows as The Jinx, The Normal Heart, the rebooted Cold Case Files on A&E and 12 Deadly Days for YouTube Red. It is currently executive producing the upcoming Sharp Objects for HBO. The investment from ITV will allow Blumhouse Television to expand in scale, developing and producing content for worldwide exploitation.

Marci Wiseman and Jeremy Gold will continue to run Blumhouse Television as co-presidents, reporting to Blum and Charles Layton, the president of Blumhouse. They all join ITV on the board of the independent TV company.

Blumhouse Television is currently working, with co-production partner Universal Cable Productions, on The Purge, led by the film franchise’s creator, James DeMonaco. The series will air on USA and Syfy. Blumhouse Television is also the lead studio on Secure and Hold: The Last Days of Roger Ailes, a limited scripted series in development at Showtime based on Gabriel Sherman’s reports of the Fox News founder.

“Over the past few years, we have been working to build Blumhouse Television into an independent studio so we can have the autonomy to work with the best storytellers and give them freedom to create the best dark genre programming,” Blum said. “It is a dream that day is here. Julian [Bellamy] and his team at ITV are remarkable partners and we can’t wait to kick things off with The Purge and Secure and Hold. We are excited that with the launch of this new studio, we are expanding our partnership with NBCUniversal by growing The Purge franchise into a television series and are grateful for their incredible support of Blumhouse overall.”

Bellamy, managing director of ITV Studios, added, “Jason and his team have an unrivaled reputation in the suspense and thriller genres, delivering hit after hit at the U.S. and international box office. They have very quickly established an enviable track record by applying these skills to television and we are delighted to come on board for the next stage of the company’s exciting development. This partnership is another step forward in ITV Studios building a global scripted business of scale.”

Wiseman and Gold said, “We joined Blumhouse Television to help Jason, Charles and the team transform the company into an independent studio and we are grateful to be well on our way. We are excited to build on the Blumhouse brand for genre storytelling by creating scripted and unscripted shows that scare us, thrill us and move us. At Blumhouse Television, we are not just telling stories about monsters under the bed, but also the things that keep us awake at night.”