Free Turn Entertainment and Crowd Network strikes 12-month partnership to develop cross-platform productions
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Free Turn, a London and LA-based entertainment company, and Crowd Network, a fast-growing British audio-on-demand network, have today announced a strategic partnership, to create original productions and develop existing shows into new formats.
The partnership will explore existing IP development across both companies, bringing Crowd’s award-winning podcasts to life through TV and film, and translating Free Turn’s most popular productions into compelling audio series. It will also accelerate the development of joint original productions in the global podcast, TV and film space. The companies are already working on the co-production of an original podcast series from the Free Turn stable, and the development of an original multi-platform story.
Free Turn was co-founded by former WPP executive Jon Hamm and BAFTA winner Nick Hamm, director of Driven and Killing Bono, in 2020. Since launch, it has brought popular TV and film productions to both big and small screens, including Gigi & Nate, a coming-of-age drama starring Marcia Gay Harden that is due for release in 2022 in the US.
Crowd Network launched in September 2020, co-founded by former BBC 5 Live Sport editor Mike Carr, with a vision to become Europe’s biggest audio-on-demand network by 2025. The company owns every show it produces, and recently celebrated its 11 millionth podcast download. In just over 18 months of launch, Crowd counts multiple chart-topping shows within its roster. It includes hit podcasts The Sam and Billie Show, co-hosted by sisters Sam and Billie Faiers, The Joe Marler Show, from British rugby legend Joe Marler, and The Secret History Of: Flight 149, lifting the lid on a decades-long cover-up on the part of the British government.
Jon Hamm, CEO of Free Turn Entertainment, commented: “Crowd Network is one of the most exciting players in the global audio entertainment industry and their clear vision to own and develop their IP is very much aligned to our own vision here at Free Turn. Already we have a number of projects lined up for development, which will not only allow us to bring proven, scripted IP to the global television market, but also gives our creative team a new outlet in audio, through our access to the Crowd Network team.”
Mike Carr, CEO of Crowd Network, shared: “There is huge appetite right now to bring popular podcasts to life through new formats, and vice versa. Something the Crowd team always consider at the start of any new production is how can we take our shows one step further, how else can we bring it to life? This new partnership means we can now take this to the next level, exploring film and TV with the expertise and support of true industry veterans at the Free Turn team. We are excited to hit the ground running with some brilliant projects already in the pipeline, to venture into new formats and grow our collective reach even further.”
Mike, Jon and Gemma Batterby, co-founder of Free Turn, will be talking about How The Next Wave of IP and Development Comes from Podcasting on a panel at the Media Production and Technology Show at the Olympia, London, 11th of May.
Crowd Network will also exhibit at The Podcast Show, Islington, London, 25th – 26th May, featuring talks from its line-up of hosts and shows including Joe Marler, Laura Adlington and Katie Puckrik, behind The Joe Marler Show, Go Love Yourself, We Didn’t Start The Fire and dot com respectively.
This is a press release which we link to from Podnews, our daily newsletter about podcasting and on-demand. We may make small edits for editorial reasons.