Video Interview: Shaftesbury’s Christina Jennings

NEW YORK: Christina Jennings, chairman and CEO of Shaftesbury Films, talks to World Screen about international drama co-pros, diversification and creating content for new media.

One of Canada’s most well-regarded production and distribution companies, Shaftesbury Films has carved a niche for itself as a respected provider of both kids’ and dramatic fare. In the children’s programming space, series like Life with Derek, Baxter and Connor Undercover have made their way onto kids’ networks across the globe. In drama, meanwhile, Shaftesbury is a prolific co-producer, notching up a slate that includes The Listener, which wrapped its second season in Canada earlier this year, and the period piece Murdoch Mysteries, a U.K./Canada co-pro that is now in its fourth season.

Of late, Shaftesbury has expanded its areas of expertise, venturing into comedy with Ken Finkleman’s Good Dog and setting up a factual division whose first title, From Spain with Love, is airing on the Cooking Channel in the U.S.