Production exec Alyson Richards has launched production company Edyson Entertainment.

The company, which splits its offices between Toronto and Los Angeles, launches with a first-look deal with TV and film distributor Content Media, which has bases in the U.K., Toronto and L.A.

Edyson will focus on sourcing, developing and producing scripted dramas, long-form productions and mini-series, working with Content Media CEO John Schmidt and TV president Greg Phillips, Edyson said in a statement.

“[The deal with Content Media is] a strategic relationship that offers unique access to the world market as well as the intelligence and perspective that only a truly global company can provide,” said Richards in her own statement.

Former Alliance-Atlantic exec Ed Gernon, making a return to TV production, will head up Edyson’s U.S. operations.

Ed Gernon

Gernon, former EVP movies, miniseries and motion pictures at Alliance-Atlantis, is a veteran longform producer whose credits include Joan of Arc and Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.

“Not only is the TV landscape beginning to shift back towards miniseries, [Gernon]’s forte, but the long form pre-sale coproduction model he helped pioneer is beginning to find its way into TV series financing as well,” Richards added.

“Today, there are 35 buyers in the U.S. alone, as opposed to the relatively small handful when I first started. The TV business is more dynamic, more creative, and more of a level playing field than ever before. We believe Edyson’s development and production skills combined with Content’s global reach and financing acumen makes for a formidable new voice in the TV landscape,” Gernon said in his own statement.

Richards’ credits include co-producing two seasons of HBO Canada’s Living in Your Car and producing documentary Quality Balls, slated to air on HBO Canada this month.