Former Paramount Global chair will also lead the board at We Will Dance Again producer
Paramount Global’s former chair Shari Redstone has invested an undisclosed amount in We Will Dance Again producer Sipur and is set to join the company.
Redstone, who left Paramount earlier this summer after the company her father founded was sold for $8bn to Skydance, is to become chair at Sipur, which also counts Netflix’s Bad Boy among its slate.
She will work alongside chief exec Emilio Schenker and Gideon Tadmor, as well as the co-founders’ senior exec team, to expand the production company’s global reach.
Redstone has invested an undisclosed amount in the fast-growing Israel-based outfit, which aims to disrupt the US studio system by developing, producing, financing and licensing IP “at a fraction of the cost of the traditional Hollywood system”, the company said.
Details of her investment in Sipur have not been revealed, but she joins fellow investors Tadmor and Israeli institutional firms Bank HaPoalim and Clal Insurance.
Sipur has become an increasingly frequent backer of projects across both TV and film, investing in projects such as Gus Van Sant’s feature hostage thriller Dead Man’s Wire, starring Al Pacino and Bill Skarsgard, and Hagai Levi’s World War II series Etty, from executive producer Isabelle Adjani and producer Yael Fogiel, which is sold by TF1.
Redstone said: “I am enormously excited to work with Emilio, Gideon and the Sipur team to help build on their success in creating a truly international film and TV studio, based in Israel, and developing and distributing content around the world.
“Not only does Sipur produce high-quality commercial content, the team also brings to life stories that drive conversation, impact and change. In doing this, Emilio and the team have developed a great business model that is unique and highly needed in the industry.”
Tadmor added that Redstone’s “leading position in the entertainment and media industry and her vast experience and passion will enable Sipur to shape its exciting new chapter and become a unique significant global studio.”
Schenker said: “The story of having one of the most influential and visionary figures in our industry and Sipur coming together feels like one of those rare and powerful moments when the plot takes an unexpected twist – one that changes everything for the better.”
He added: “For a young and ambitious studio like ours, founded only a few years ago, her belief in us is nothing less than a transformative chapter in the extraordinary narrative of Sipur.
“It is exactly the tailwind we need to reach our next level of success as we create stories together that inspire and unite audiences around the world.”
Sipur said Redstone and Schenker had met initially at the US premiere of We Will Dance Again, about the October 7 terror attack at the Nova Music Festival, which was sold widely including to the BBC, RTL Germany, Paramount+ and Hot 8 in Israel.
Its slate also includes medical thriller Heart of a Killer, which has Peter Chernin’s North Road attached, music-skewing romantic comedy Noa, Marc Maron’s doc Are We Good?, and horror feature Buddy.
Former Red Arrow Studios chief Michael Schmidt had been president at Sipur, prior to his death in June aged 52.
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