BuzzFeed is teaming up with Lionsgate to develop, produce and distribute feature films theatrically as part of a multi-picture slate, BuzzFeed announced Tuesday.
Lionsgate will greenlight features that will be produced with BuzzFeed and aimed at millennial and Gen Z audiences, and the movies will be based on BuzzFeed’s original IP as well as other stories designed to appeal to BuzzFeed’s audience.
Several projects are already in development and will tap into established filmmakers and new voices within the media company’s stable. The companies plan to launch their first co-production in 2021.
BuzzFeed also points to data that says nearly three-quarters of its audience make their TV and film choices based on the staff’s own content recommendations, and the film’s development process will use that same data and insights in order to figure out what stories will work best with young audiences.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with BuzzFeed to expand our digital footprint with a slate of original films that speak to their highly engaged audience,” Lauren Bixby, Lionsgate VP acquisitions and co-productions, said in a statement. “With our innovative marketing strategy and agile distribution teams, combined with BuzzFeed’s impressive and extensive global reach, the partnership will allow two entrepreneurial companies to work together to develop some great IP.”
“This exciting partnership with Lionsgate marks a new chapter for BuzzFeed and our studio endeavors,” Richard Alan Reid, SVP of global content and film at BuzzFeed said in a statement. “We are expanding our strategy to include long-form content, with a slate that celebrates identity, diversity and youth culture, and concepts that highlight themes and characters not typically at the center of pop movies.”
Jason Moring and Michael Philip of production company CR8IV DNA will act as consultants.
Deadline first reported the news of the partnership.