EXCLUSIVE: Ethos Entertainment, the L.A.-based talent management company recently launched by Christina Gualazzi and Matt Goldman, has entered into a new joint venture with the NY-based production company Picture Farm, helmed by partners Ben Freedman, Chris Bren, and Dion Sapp.
Through the partnership, the companies will team on the development and production of a wide range of projects, including scripted and non-scripted TV series, as well as features, commercials, and digital content, the idea being that cross-collaboration and knowledge-sharing will unlock growth opportunities for all involved. The JV stems from an earlier working relationship formed during production on Black Market with Michael K. Williams, the critically acclaimed Vice TV docuseries, produced by Freedman, Sapp, and Goldman, which won two Realscreen Awards.
Said Ethos Entertainment’s Gualazzi, “By joining forces with Picture Farm, we can offer our clients a wider range of excellence in not only talent management but also now a creative collective to develop and implement their own intellectual properties with the support of an established physical production company.”
Freedman explained that the partnership provides Picture Farm with “direct access to a depth of talent, filmmakers, and industry relationships which we will capitalize on to increase our already robust production slate.”
Projects already set as part of the joint venture include two reteaming the companies with Matthew Horowitz, the showrunner-director behind Black Market: a series with Grammy nominee Pusha T that examines the hand-in-hand operation of the corporate world and illicit markets, along with a limited hybrid docuseries on the incredible untold story of one of the world’s largest international drug traffickers.
Also in development is a true crime docuseries on the Boston Strangler murders, working with the DiNatale family who are second generation private detectives re-opening the case their father, famed detective Phil DiNatale, started in the early ’60s. With never-before-seen materials, the brothers will dive into their father’d immense homemade detective archive to finally find answers for 12 remaining cold cases.
Then, there’s The Secret Ingredient, a forthcoming series based on creator Roberto Serrini’s award-winning short film Disco Sauce, which provides a deep dive into the mysterious origins of many classic culinary dishes and traces their bizarre evolution into the versions of today. Paul Storck (The Cube, Jeff Corwin Unleashed) is set to serve as showrunner.
In addition to So You Think You Can Dance host Cat Deeley, notable clients at Ethos Entertainment include actors Louis Gossett Jr. (2023’s The Color Purple), Ashley Madekwe (Dr. Death), Sidney Flanigan (Never Rarely Sometimes Always), Elvis Nolasco (American Crime), Matilda Lutz (Red Sonja), Iddo Goldberg (Peaky Blinders), Jesse Lee Soffer (Chicago P.D.), Stacey Farber (Spencer Sisters), Miluana Jackson (Six Triple Eight), Nora-Jane Noone (Wildfire), Felicia “Snoop” Pearson (The Family Plan), Tommy Bastow (FX’s forthcoming Shogun), and Jessica Madsen (Bridgerton), to name just a few. Partner Matt Goldman was also the longtime representative of Michael Kenneth Williams, the revered actor who served as the host for Black Market, the project through which Ethos was first introduced to the Picture Farm team.
Coming up next for Picture Farm is the latest edition of its Picture Farm Short Film Festival, providing a showcase and mentorship program for emerging independent filmmakers, which is set to take place in Brooklyn, NY on November 4th.
