Crave, New Metric Media and Jared Keeso have struck a multi-year creative partnership ahead of the final season of Letterkenny.

The overall content deal will see New Metric Media and Letterkenny creator Keeso deliver 49 half-hour episodes to Crave, in the form of additional Letterkenny spinoffs and a new series in development with Keeso. Bell Media will serve as the distributor for any new projects out of the deal, and New Metric will be the exclusive sales agent.

New Metric Media president Mark Montefiore tells Playback Daily that the company currently has a handful of projects at different stages of development with Keeso, with announcements to come at a later date.

Justin Stockman, Bell Media’s VP, content development and programming, says talks around the deal began last year, around the time that they realized Letterkenny would be coming to an end, and that its spinoff Shoresy has turned into a bona fide hit on Crave.

“We could see that there’s more gas in the tank than just Letterkenny when it comes to Jared and this world he’s created,” says Stockman, adding that the deal later evolved to cover content from Keeso beyond the Letterkenny universe.

The agreement was negotiated by Stockman, Carlyn Klebuc and Dianne Vernon for Crave; Montefiore and Dentons’ Jayme Alter for New Metric Media; and Trina Allen (Play Management), Gordon Gilbertson (Gilbertson Entertainment), and Jeff Hynick (Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer) on behalf of Keeso.

Montefiore says the deal is a “landmark” in the Canadian film and TV industry, due to the sheer number of episodes ordered. “In this climate, anything that’s more than one season, six episodes being ordered, is pretty incredible,” he says.

New Metric recently unveiled that it has bought back distribution rights to a number of series, including Letterkenny and Shoresy, from WildBrain. The prodco struck a licensing deal with Netflix for the shows, as well as Children Ruin Everything, in several European markets.

Montefiore says the move was a “long-term play” for the prodco’s evolution to a comedy entertainment studio.

“To be able to properly and effectively build these brands, you need to be able to control all rights so that when you’re entering a market you’re able to effectively negotiate, plan for and strategize multiple lines of rights management, from distribution to merchandise, licensing, and live touring,” says Montefiore. “Distribution is a key piece of that; it’s a driver in many ways. It was paramount for us to be able to control those [shows].”

Image courtesy of Bell Media