Former Twentieth Century Fox chairman/CEO Stacey Snider has joined forces with former Shine Group chairman Elisabeth Murdoch and “Chernobyl” executive producer Jane Featherstone to launch a new global film and TV entity called Sister, the trio announced Tuesday.
The new venture, which will be headquartered in the U.K., is an extension of Featherstone’s Emmy-winning TV production company Sister Pictures, which produced the hit TV series “Broadchurch” as well as the award-winning HBO limited series “Chernobyl.”
Murdoch will be executive chairman of the new company as well as lead financier, while co-owners Featherstone and Snider will serve as heads of the London and L.A. offices, respectively.
Snider, a veteran Hollywood studio head after stints running DreamWorks, Universal Pictures as well as Fox, will also serve as global CEO. She left Fox in the spring after Disney completed its acquisition of Fox’s main film and TV assets.
The new venture also reunites Murdoch and Featherstone, who served as chairman of Shine TV and CEO of Shine-owned Kudos productions, overseeing hit British TV dramas such as “Broadchurch” and “Humans.” Both exited Shine in 2014.
Murdoch, the second daughter of Fox mogul Rupert Murdoch, also oversees the mobile video start-up Vertical Networks and the animation company Locksmith, and holds a minority stake in Youngest Media and 110% Content.
The company did not disclose details of its financing or how much additional staffing might added in addition to the 26 currently employed in the London office.
“We are fortunate to be well capitalized to have the independence and confidence to write our own rules, to be bold and bespoke in the choices we make, and to utilize our resources to champion visionary storytellers,” the trio said in a statement. “And to those storytellers we say — come and be brave, come and be rebellious, come and do your best work.”
The company said it plans to produce 32 hours of scripted TV programming next year, up from 25 hours in 2019. Upcoming projects include Season 2 of “The Split” for BBC One, an adaptation of Naomi Alderman’s novel “The Power” for Amazon Prime and Adam Kay’s adaptation of his best-seller “This Is Going to Hurt” for the BBC.
Reps for the company did not respond to requests for further details.