Original Pictures links with Lenz

Lenz Entertainment and Original Pictures have teamed up to form a joint venture, Original Lenz.

Toronto-based Lenz is best known for music, but also produces lifestyle (Big Voice) and kids programming (Nanaland). The company is headed by acclaimed composer and musical director Jack Lenz (The Passion of the Christ, Due South, Little Mosque on the Prairie).

Original Pictures, with offices in Toronto and Winnipeg, is a drama producer, most notably the Global/ABC Family show Falcon Beach and the anthology series The Shields Stories and The Atwood Stories.

‘It’s a fabulous fit that gives us strength, depth and breadth,’ says Original Pictures CEO Nicholas Hirst. ‘Lenz is in everything we are not, in a big way — kids, music, in-house TV editing facilities. Meanwhile, we have the adult and teen drama experience they don’t have. This joint venture gives us the financial strength and know-how to build a much stronger operation.’

Both companies will continue to operate independently, as well as developing projects through Original Lenz, although Hirst says most major productions will go through the new outfit.

‘There may be circumstances where we have productions that aren’t a good fit,’ says Hirst. ‘If we can’t both contribute something to a project it may stay with our individual companies.’

Lenz’s music and music management business will continue to operate under Lenz Entertainment.

Original Lenz will develop and produce a broad genre of programming, including TV drama, kids, reality and factual series. Original Pictures currently has several movie projects in development that Hirst says will likely also be produced through the new joint venture.

With the contractions in the television business, as well as the difficulties in financing films, Hirst points out that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to launch projects as a small production company.

‘We expect to see a lot of consolidation in the production business moving forward — being a boutique isn’t going to work any more — and we don’t want to be left behind,’ says Hirst. ‘The broader based we are and the more financial strength we have, the more we can offer to ensure projects stick on the wall.’