eOne acquires full stake in Secret Location

The deal comes more than two years after eOne took an undisclosed equity stake in the Toronto-based digital studio. (Secret Location founder James Milward pictured.)

Two years after it first took an equity stake in Toronto’s Secret Location, Entertainment One (eOne) has completed the acquisition to take full ownership of the digital agency and producer.

eOne first took interest in the company in May 2014, with the acquisition of an undisclosed stake. The deal immediately led to several collaborations, such as a VR promotional execution for eOne and ONE Media’s Ball Up: Search for the Next documentary and, just this year, the web series Whatever Linda on which it was a producer, was moved into development as a TV property with Mark Gordon Company, another of eOne’s investments.

james milward headshotSecret Location has continued to garner a slew of international awards and nominations for its projects since 2014, including the first-ever Emmy for a VR project, awarded to its Sleepy Hollow execution for Fox and a 2016 Webby Award for its Orchestra VR project with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association. It was also nominated for a 2015 International Digital Emmy for its Are You On the Blacklist? interactive episode for Sony and NBC, as well as two Annual News and Documentary Emmys in 2016 for its VR project Ebola Outbreak: A Virtual Journey, produced in partnership PBS investigative series Frontline.

Secret Location will now become a division under the Entertainment One umbrella and retain its brand identity. The agency’s founder and executive producer James Milward (pictured) will remain with the company.