OREANDA-NEWS. STV Productions and GroupM Entertainment have joined forces to create a strategic development partnership that will see the two companies co-invest, co-develop and co-produce ideas across a broad range of genres.

The innovative deal involves substantial development investment from both companies and has been shaped to capitalise on the strengths of each business. The focus will be on the creation of new entertainment, factual and drama projects which will be targeted at major broadcasters in the UK and internationally. The companies will work together internationally, as well as with third party distributors, to exploit ideas developed under this deal.

The partnership builds on the successful production and development relationship between the companies which has resulted in a number of successful co-productions including The Poison Tree (ITV); Perez Hilton: Superfan (ITV2); Prison - First and Last 24 hours (Sky1) and most recently Safeword (ITV2).

The first project to be developed as a pilot under this new deal is announced today and will be available to present to broadcasters later this year:  The Dressing Room, a documentary series that gets inside the changing rooms of sports teams across the country to bring all of the drama, excitement and emotion they experience - but none of the sport. 

The partnership is non-exclusive and will see both STV & GME continue to work with other channels, distributors and content creators.

Alan Clements, Director of Content for STV Productions, said: "We are delighted to be announcing this significant development in the strong relationship that has already formed between STV Productions and GroupM Entertainment.  This arrangement will bring together the best of both companies to co-develop projects and achieves increased scale and a new impetus to our development activities across a range of genres. We look forward to working closely with our colleagues at GME in this next phase of our successful partnership."

Tony Moulsdale, Director of Programming, GroupM Entertainment, said: "This partnership further cements a very successful relationship with STV built over several years. It shows what's possible if you take an imaginative approach to content both creatively and commercially. This is about investing in the early stages of development and taking the long view on high value IP, especially on development that is expensive or time consuming. But ultimately it's about giving broadcasters greater choice where they are telling us they want it. Strong effective collaboration and clear focus from conception to exploitation, targeted at what commissioners want both in the UK and globally, will allow us to create unparalleled opportunities for both our businesses."