EXCLUSIVE: Megan Ellison’s Annapurna 2.0 is gathering steam with the launch of an international TV division, we can reveal.
Former New Regency, Scott Free and Origin Pictures exec Ed Rubin will lead as Head of International TV based in London. He’ll have a remit to originate and develop a slate of ambitious scripted projects with top talent from the UK and beyond.
While at New Regency, Rubin exec-produced shows including The Beast Must Die, starring Cush Jumbo and Jared Harris, and Apple TV’s Prime Target, starring Leo Woodall.
Joining him in the London office will be Tsedenia Skitch as Development Producer. Skitch worked with Rubin at New Regency and before that was at Sky and production outfit Happy Prince, where she worked as a script editor on season one of hit series Rivals for Disney+.
The duo join veteran Annapurna executive Skye Optican, VP International Film & TV as well as Head of Theatre, who has been based in London for several years growing Annapurna’s international presence and slate across film, TV and theatre.
Under Optican, Annapurna has earned Tony and Olivier wins and nominations, most recently with the upcoming West End production of 1536 and the WestEnd-bound Inter Alia.
The hires come following the news that Chelsea Barnard and Matthew Budman are returning to Annapurna’s U.S. team to serve as co-heads of film. More hires are expected.
The focus of the newly invigorated Annapurna team will be squarely on production, we’re told by sources. Film distribution, which led to the company’s woes pre-Covid, is not on the agenda.
Things are clearly ramping up. News of the international expansion comes on the same day that Annapurna-produced I Love Boosters opens the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, and six weeks after Ellison-backed The Invite stormed Sundance and scored the festival’s biggest acquisition deal in an eight-figure A24 pact.
The Testament of Ann Lee and Nightbitch are the only two Annapurna-related film or TV projects to hit screens in the last couple of years. The company has been more active in gaming and theater after previously making its name with a string of big movie bets.
The company made waves in Hollywood with Best Picture nominees including American Hustle, Her, Zero Dark Thirty, Phantom Thread and Vice, while it also had a big hand in Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master. Former HBO exec Sue Naegle formerly led the TV charge with shows including Pam & Tommy and The Staircase.
Ultimately, the company was laid low by its distribution ambitions and a period of relative quiet followed as Megan’s brother David has been the one making more noise in town thanks to splashy Skydance deals and the industry-shifting pending acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery.
Now Annapurna is ramping up again and there are projects and more company changes on the horizon, we understand.
Rubin said today: “Annapurna is a true one-off – a company known for making stand-out, authored work across all mediums – so it’s an incredible opportunity to build a raft of new TV projects out of the UK that embody the same mix of creative risk and broad appeal.”
English (US) ·