Media industry leader Scott Ehrlich and former LivePlanet heads Larry Tanz and Keith Quinn have formed Agility Studios, a multi-platform entertainment studio. The company is backed by Mantucket Capital, a private investment firm with over $1 Billion under management. The new venture will combine the executive team’s five decades of media industry experience with Mantucket’s resources in acquisitions and finance.
“For many years, studios and networks worked together in television to create an eco-system that produced and delivered great entertainment properties to consumers. Agility was formed as a studio to capture the opportunity, economically and creatively, opened up by the diversity of distribution platforms in today’s media landscape,” said Ehrlich, Agility’s CEO. “Given the explosive growth of distributors in new media, we believe that there is a need to forge a new studio that supplies these distributors while creating opportunities for talent and solutions for advertisers.”
Serving as a full service studio, Agility supports content creators with infrastructure services that include business and creative development, financing, distribution, sponsorship and advertising sales, operations, business affairs and back office support. Ehrlich will serve as the company’s CEO, with Tanz taking the role of President and Chief Operating Officer, and Quinn will oversee programming and production as the company’s Chief Creative Officer.
“Scott, Keith and I understand from our cumulative experience that distribution relationships, brand partnerships, infrastructure and production experience are the key ingredients for success in this industry, and Agility brings them all to the table,” added President and COO Tanz. “In Mantucket Capital, we have a unique partner that provides both strategic and business support and enables us to scale quickly when we hit on something that works.”
Tyler Tysdal, Managing Director of Mantucket Capital, will advise the company on finance and acquisitions as well as represent Mantucket on the Agility Studios Board of Directors. “All of us at Mantucket are genuinely excited to be part of the Agility team,” said Tysdal. “Mantucket developed a passion and vision for the opportunity to create value in the midst of the unprecedented changes happening in media and entertainment. We looked throughout the industry for the right team and business model to partner with us and create a new industry leader. Agility Studios is the fruit of that effort and we’re off to a great start.”
Agility Studios will focus on content that begins in new media, with high growth potential within that arena or across multiple platforms.
“We have found the biggest opportunities in two key areas—talent who have embraced the web and successfully bootstrapped projects that have attracted massive audiences, and high-profile talent hungry to get in on the web. Advertisers and distributors are excited to work with both types,” said Quinn, Chief Creative Officer, Agility Studios. “And we have found that creators are delighted to tap into a studio structure that supports their ideas and transforms them into business opportunities.”
Agility Studio’s team fills out its key hires with senior execs Shannon Pruitt (formerly of Fremantle and Mark Burnett Productions), Senior Vice President Integrated Sales & Sponsorships, Zev Suissa (formerly of DigWorks), Vice President Production & Development and Jason Turner (formerly of Fremantle), Vice President Distribution & Sales.
CEO Scott Ehrlich commented on the recruitment of the team, saying: “Shannon Pruitt is a seasoned dealmaker in high-stakes integration, sponsorship, marketing and advertising world with experience on some of the world’s most valuable multi-platform properties, including American Idol and The Apprentice. That, combined with Jason Turner’s relationships in new media distribution and Zev Suissa’s network in the creative community, gives us confidence that we will continue to find, fund, distribute and monetize a wealth of great, platform appropriate, creative content.”
About the Agility Studios Executive Team
Scott Ehrlich, Chief Executive Officer of Agility Studios, is responsible for the company’s business operations including strategy, marketing initiatives and developing key industry partnerships. A proven innovator in the creation and distribution of digital video, Ehrlich has bought and sold more than $200 million in digital content in the last seven years. Most recently he served as CEO of DigWorks, Inc. a Seattle-based digital business development and consulting company working with blue chip content companies and distributors including ABC News, iFilm, Sony Pictures Digital, DivX, and MSN. Prior to that he served as Vice President of Media Acquisition and Distribution for RealNetworks (Nasdaq: RNWK). Earlier in his career, Ehrlich was the Senior Vice President and Executive Producer of News America Digital Publishing, Newscorp’s first digital publishing group (NYSE: NWS).
Larry Tanz, President and COO of Agility Studios, oversees strategy development and operations management for the company. Prior to founding Agility Studios, Tanz was President and CEO of LivePlanet for five years, where he succeeded in turning the company around and into a profitable business. He negotiated high-profile deals with top studios including Universal, Miramax, ABC, NBC, ESPN, MTV, E! Networks, Bravo, and Spike TV and produced and developed successful television, film, and new media projects including the Emmy-nominated TV series Project Greenlight for Bravo and HBO, and the feature films Running the Sahara and Universal Pictures’ First Descent. He also secured millions of dollars in brand integration partnerships on LivePlanet’s projects. Before that Tanz served as Director of Strategy and Operations at AOL Time Warner.
Keith Quinn, Chief Creative Officer of Agility Studios, oversees all content and programming, from development or acquisition through production and distribution, in addition to leading overall creative product strategy for the company. Before Agility, he served as Senior Vice President of Production & Development for LivePlanet. During his tenure, LivePlanet produced feature films Running the Sahara and Voices Unbound: The Story of the Freedom Writers, MSN’s first original series Fan Club: Reality Baseball, and set up numerous television projects at HBO, ABC, NBC, MTV, Spike TV, ESPN and E! Networks including the Emmy-nominated Project Greenlight. Quinn was also a writer and producer with Black Lamp Productions and served as a business development consultant and executive for networks and production companies such as Actual Reality Productions, Showtime and Mark Burnett Productions, where he generated tens of millions of dollars in brand integration deals and developed and oversaw multi-million dollar internet and wireless production opportunities; additionally he worked in entertainment marketing and creative strategy for marcom giant WPP Group.
Shannon Pruitt, Senior Vice President of Sponsorship and Integrated Marketing, focuses on the monetization of Agility Studios properties. Formerly Vice President Integrated Marketing, Sponsorship & Live Events, North America for FremantleMedia Enterprises, Pruitt managed the on and off-air sponsorship and live events initiatives across their television, brands and new media portfolios, including American Idol. She personally negotiated and executed well over one hundred million dollars worth of brand partnerships with top brands for shows such as American Idol. She also has held senior positions in sponsorship, marketing and advertising sales at Mark Burnett Productions, 19, MasterCard and Octagon.
Zev Suissa, Vice President of Production & Development, is responsible for content partner acquisitions, product strategy, creative development, branded storylines, and integrating applications and communities into creative properties. He was previously VP, Development for DigWorks, Inc where he created and acquired content for broadband distribution. Since 1998, Suissa has been primarily focused on cross platform digital content, and has created, produced and managed video services from concept to completion in broadband, mobile and IPTV.
Jason Turner, Vice President of Distribution and Sales, focuses on setting up strategic relationships with distribution channels, and establishing creative revenue streams for Agility’s properties. Turner was Executive Director of Interactive, FremantleMedia Enterprises, North America, where he was responsible distributing, licensing, and monetizing FremantleMedia’s library of shows such as American Idol.
About Agility Studios:
Agility Studios, backed by Mantucket Capital, is a boutique studio committed to transforming digital media properties into viable businesses by supporting content creators with services that include creative development, financing, distribution, sponsorship and advertising sales, production infrastructure, business affairs and back office support. Founded by Scott Ehrlich, Keith Quinn and Larry Tanz, the company combines five decades of experience in new media and traditional media production and distribution as well as brand and advertiser sponsorship and integration.
About Mantucket Capital:
Mantucket Capital is a private investment firm/single family office with more than $1 Billion of capital under management. Mantucket consists of private equity (buyouts and venture capital), special situations (value/distressed), public equities and real estate. Mantucket is comprised of socially responsible entrepreneurs and investors with extensive experience building companies in multiple industries. The firm’s ability to partner with management to build value is unique and core to its mission. Mantucket is able to provide companies a single source of flexible capital without industry, investment structure or investment horizon restrictions combined with a global network of executive contacts. The firm’s current portfolio includes companies in industries including healthcare, consumer products, technology, media, agriculture and more.
