John Morayniss, Patrice Theroux, Jeff Lynas and Nelson Kuo-Lee, all veteran former eOne executives, have launched Canadian-based Blink Studios, with Endeavor Content as its anchor investor and worldwide distribution partner.

Headquartered in Toronto with offices in Los Angeles, the full-service independent content studio sees Morayniss taking up the CEO mantle; Kuo-Lee acting as CFO and Lynas assuming COO duties. Theroux is executive vice chair. Endeavor Content co-president Chris Rice is a board member. Former CBC head and Twitter VP Kirstine Stewart is also non-executive board chair.

As its mandate, Blink Studios “will be deploying a significant portion of its capital to make investments in Canadian production companies” as a full-service indie studio, developing, producing and monetizing premium scripted and unscripted content in all genres and formats for a global market.

The company also promises to strike strategic deals with the “foremost” writers, creators, producers and other related content enterprisers, as well as “aggressively pursue IP in Canada and around the world.”

The new company also pledges to use its expertise and relationships to give new and diverse  Canadian voices and the opportunity to reach a global market.

Each Blink Studios executive comes with an extensive curriculum vitae.

Morayniss co-founded Canadian indie Blueprint Entertainment in 2002, and rolled up Blueprint with several other Canadian media businesses that were then acquired by eOne in 2008 to launch eOne’s TV business. He led eOne as CEO for a decade, establishing a network of global television partnerships and delivering acclaimed scripted and unscripted series.

Notable projects under his tenure include The Rookie from The Mark Gordon Company for ABC; David Guggenheim’s Designated Survivor for ABC and Netflix;  Marti Noxon’s Sharp Objects for HBO, Hell On Wheels for AMC, ICF Films’ Burden of Truth for the CW and CBC and police procedural Rookie Blue created by Morwyn Brebner, Tassie Cameron and Ellen Vanstone for Corus and ABC.

As former head of television for Alliance Atlantis, Morayniss oversaw development, production and co-production for CSI, later delivering non-scripted series Naked and Afraid for Discovery;  MTV’s Siesta Keys and A&E’s LA Burning: The Riots 25 Years Later. He also arranged worldwide distribution for AMC’s The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead.

Patrice Theroux, former Alliance Films CEO and ex-president of film and television at eOne, is a film and TV executives who produced more than 45 films and TV  programs. Theroux is a member of the Producers Guild Association (PGA), the British Academy of Film and Television (BAFTA) and the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television.

Jeff Lynas, an ex-SVP of Blueprint Entertainment and formerly responsible for day-to-day eOne Television operations for a decade led business development for the division, establishing and structuring new business relationships across production, distribution, and digital media. Lynas supported the growth of eOne’s U.S. non-scripted business, worked on the initial acquisition of The Mark Gordon Company and a multi-series output deal with AMC networks.

Joining eOne in 2007, Nelson Kuo-Lee served as Executive Vice-President of its Film and Television business, holding positions of COO – leading its entry into film production – and most recently as CFO, overseeing its finance transformation initiative.

Blink Studios intends to announce key hires for its creative and production team in coming weeks.