Originally published in C21Media
Canadian production companies Omnifilm and Reality Distortion Field (RDF) have struck a deal to jointly develop and produce a slate of scripted TV series, with London-based A+E Global Media and Shaftesbury alum Alexandra Finlay set to support the new pact.
The partnership will see the companies, both based in Vancouver, blending their scripted development slates in a bid to smooth the path to green lights.
RDF, which is led by Stephen Hegyes and prominent Canadian showrunner Simon Barry (Warrior Nun, Continuum), will provide creative oversight of the slate while Omnifilm, led by CEO Brian Hamilton, will provide physical production, post-production, production administration and financing.
The slate includes Time of Death, created by Barry, about a haunted detective who, after a decade spent chasing Britain’s most elusive serial killer, relocates to Vancouver only to become convinced his old nemesis has resurfaced there.
Also on the slate is the crime procedural My Homicide, created by Bruce Ramsay, about a brilliant detective haunted by his wife’s unsolved murder who teams up with an AI version of himself to solve impossible crimes and unravel the mystery that could tear them both apart.
Finlay, a well-respected exec in the international coproduction space, was most recently the VP of scripted international copros at A+E Global Networks. Before that, she was the VP of creative and coproductions at Toronto-based prodco Shaftesbury and also held roles at UKTV and Channel 4. She is supporting the Omnifilm-RDF partnership as a consultant.
At the same time, RDF’s head of creative affairs, Bhavika Mantri, is leaving the company but will remain as an executive producer on several projects. Mantri joined RDF in 2020 and has overseen a slate of more than 20 television and film projects since then, forging key partnerships globally.
“This partnership with Omnifilm allows us to combine creative and production forces in a way that expands what both companies can achieve,” said Barry, while Hamilton called it a “natural extension” after the companies have collaborated closely over the past decade.
Originally published in C21Media
