Red Arrow Entertainment Group has tied up its second prodco acquisition today, buying a majority stake in the UK’s Nerd TV.

This comes after C21 broke the news that the ProSiebenSat.1 subsidiary has also bought into the Israeli formats creator behind the Still Standing format, July August Productions.

Factual entertainment and formats specialist Nerd launched two years ago and is lead by former Tiger Aspect executive producer Jago Lee and Raw ex-head of development John Farrar.

It currently has a “major order” in the bag from Discovery Networks, is working on other projects and has development deals in the UK, Germany, the US and France, according to Red Arrow.

James Baker and Joel Denton of Red Arrow UK will now oversee Nerd’s future plans. Co-MD Baker becomes Nerd’s chairman, replacing Survivor creator Charlie Parsons, who made the initial investment in Nerd in 2010.

Parsons said: “I’m delighted that my first TV production company investment has paid off. John and Jago are very talented and I’ve enjoyed working with them. It proves when you create the right team, you can really go places.”

Red Arrow, which now has 18 production companies around the globe, last month bought stakes in Nerd’s fellow UK prodcos CPL Productions and Endor Productions. It already had a stake in Mob Film. Red Arrow Entertainment MD Jan Frouman hinted this latest deal could be the last in the territory.

“We didn’t have to spend much time with Jago and John to realise that they are exceptionally talented creators and producers. Their ideas are fresh, forward-thinking and exactly what we were looking for to round out our UK presence.”

Parsons made the founding investment in the indie two years ago, backing the factual entertainment and factual formats company founded by Jago Lee and John Farrar.

The pair, who will retain stakes in the business, have held previous roles at indies including Tiger Aspect and Talkback.

Nerd is understood to have a major, yet-to-be-announced series in production for Discovery Networks and has development deals in the UK, US, Germany and France.

Red Arrow paid an undisclosed sum for its controlling stake in Nerd, which joins its roster of 17 production companies, including the UK’s Endor Productions, CPL Productions and Mob Film.

Nerd’s formats and finished shows will be distributed by Red Arrow’s distributor, SevenOne International.

Red Arrow UK managing directors Joel Denton and James Baker will oversee Nerd’s future plans, with Baker taking over as chairman of the company. He said he would “continue to keep an eye on the UK market” for further deals.

Originally published in Broadcast Magazine.

The production arm of ProSiebenSat.1 has bought into Brit shingle NERD TV.

NERD TV was set up in 2010 by Brit TV execs Jago Lee and John Farrar with start-up capital from Survivor creator Charlie Parsons. NERD’s focus is on factual entertainment and factual formats. The group has a major order in place with Discovery Networks and has development deals in the U.S., the U.K., Germany and France.

Originally Published in The Hollywood Reporter

Please note our new address: 22 Bloomsbury Street, WC1 3PS.

The series was co-developed by Nerd TV and online marketing specialists Holler along with Red Arrow Entertainment Group. In it, a candidate hands over all of their social network profiles to a team of comedians, giving them absolute freedom for one week.

“The Anti Social Network demonstrates the great pool of creativity coming through the Red Arrow Entertainment Group into SevenOne International’s catalogue,” said Henrik Pabst, the director of international format and acquisition at SevenOne International. “This format perfectly combines the aspects of a prank show imbedded into the social networks we all use on a daily basis.”

Previously Elaine was a Production Manager working at independent companies such as Tiger Aspect, Blink Films and Alaska. She has experience in a wide variety of factual output for all the major UK broadcasters, from presenter-led series, through observational documentaries, and from factual entertainment to drama.

The hard-hitting show follow’s reformed mobster  and now writer and public speaker Ferrante as he consults a Florida family business on it’s knees and attempts to turn it around using the logic of the mafia.  Backed up by former Gambino associate and friend Fat George, Lou attempts to fix the family and so fix the business.

NERD shot the show on location in New York City and Miami, Florida in the summer 2011.  Series options for Louis are in discussion with the broadcaster.

Co-developed by Blue Touch and NERD TV, The Network is a game show that sees contestants relying on their social-networking friends to answer questions about them. An international distribution deal has been signed for the show with BBC Worldwide.

Curveball, developed by Blue Touch in association with McLaren Entertainment, is a rapid-fire quiz in which contestants can play game-changing curveballs. The format has been optioned in the U.K. by Rain Media.

The Blue Touch catalogue will encompass genres such as game shows, quizzes, reality, variety, interactive and talent, among others. Pye was most recently the chairman of 2waytraffic and formerly the head of entertainment at the BBC. He also previously served as the commercial director for Granada Television and the head of commercial and business affairs at BBC Productions. Walton has more than 30 years of experience in the TV and advertising markets, including working as the group account director at Saatchi & Saatchi.

Walton, the managing director of Blue Touch, commented: “Our combination of extensive entertainment industry experience, the breadth of skills offered by our partners and access to ground-breaking technology means we are unlike any other formats company. These initial deals and the huge amount of interest we’ve had in our whole portfolio demonstrate that Blue Touch TV is uniquely placed to deliver gripping new formats within a highly competitive market.”

Pye, the executive chairman, added, “Blue Touch TV offers broadcasters fully formed entertainment formats, some of which use world-class technology, alongside the talent and expertise needed to produce them and reach audiences both here in the U.K. and across the world.”

Jago Lee, the creative director of NERD, said, “It is an absolute pleasure to be working on The Network with Blue Touch TV; a team whose knowledge of the entertainment formats market spans more than three decades. Their combination of global commissioning nous and technical wizardry makes them unique in the market.”

Originally published in WorldScreen

This year we had formats represented by Seven One Distribution and BBC Worldwide – more soon…