Authentic Studios is coming to shake up Hollywood. The new full-service production studio, courtesy of Authentic Brands Group, intends to develop and produce film, television and commercial content from its brand portfolio. Its current library of brands includes Reebok, Juicy Couture and Sports Illustrated, Brooks Brothers, Forever 21 and more. They also own likeness rights to celebrities like Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali, Shaquille O’Neal and David Beckham.
Authentic Studios aims to craft varied media content (film, television, streaming, etc.) from its four core labels: Shaquille O’Neal’s Jersey Legends, David Beckham’s Studio 99, Sports Illustrated Studios and Authentic Productions. Authentic Studios hopes to find new material to develop and produce, as well as participate in co-production and financing opportunities with third parties, around their content.
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“Authentic Studios is unique in its ability to leverage Authentic’s in-house roster of brands and a deep catalog of IP to develop and produce content in all forms with 360-rights control,” Authentic Studios President Colin Smeeton said. “Each of our four labels features a style of storytelling resulting in compelling content for all traditional and streaming mediums.”
Smeeton joined Authentic over seven years ago after helping to build O’Neal’s personal brand expansion, strategic partnerships and new business ventures. Smeeton recently executive produced the Emmy-nominated documentary series, “SHAQ” for HBO and has produced multiple projects for Lionsgate, ABC, ESPN, TNT and Netflix.
Jersey Legends’ “Queen of Basketball” was among the Oscar nominees in 2021 for Best Documentary Short.
Studio 99’s slate includes “World War Shoe” for Disney+ detailing the rivalry between Puma and Adidas, a new biopic of snooker legend Ronnie O’Sullivan and a Netflix documentary series charting the life and career of David Beckham. They also recently delivered “Save our Squad” to Disney+ and “Fever Pitch” about the Premier Leagu, for Paramount+.
Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated Studios is set to produce an Eva Orner-directed HBO documentary alongside George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s Smokehouse Pictures and 101 Studios, based on a “Sports Illustrated” article chronicling systemic sexual abuse within the Ohio State wrestling program.
Authentic Productions will develop content for all formats and platforms around Authentic’s icons and brands. They recently scored with the blockbuster “Elvis” and the Netflix animated series “Agent Elvis.”
