Warner Bros. TV Group buys Alloy Entertainment Topper Leslie Morgenstein to stay on to run company—Variety Magazine
June, 14 2012
Warner Bros. Television has scooped up Alloy Entertainment, the packager and producer of "Gossip Girl," "Pretty Little Liars," "The Vampire Diaries" and other staples of young-adult viewing, as Hollywood's biggest TV group flexes its muscles at home and abroad.
Financial terms weren't disclosed. Alloy Entertainment had been part of Alloy Inc., owned by an investor group led by Strauss Zelnick's ZelnickMedia, which acquired it in 2010 for $126 million. Alloy Entertainment prexy Leslie Morgenstein will stay on to run the unit, reporting to Warner Bros. TV Group prexy Bruce Rosenblum.
The two companies already work closely together, with five Alloy properties currently produced and distributed by Warner Bros. TV -- "Gossip Girl," "The Vampire Diaries," "Pretty Little Liars," "Lying Game" and the upcoming "666 Park Avenue." Feature films include two "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" movies with Warner Bros. Pictures and Warner Premiere's "The Clique."
"The Warner Bros. Television Group and Alloy have enjoyed consistent success together on a number of terrific projects over the last decade," Rosenblum said. Alloy's "creative and talented team of executives have a unique ability to tap into a young female audience and create content that resonates across multiple platforms."
Most of Alloy's properties started as book franchises aimed at teen girls and twentysomethings. The deal with Warner Bros. also covers Alloy's prolific book packaging business, which has had 50 titles on the New York Times bestseller list including "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," "Gossip Girl," "The Clique," "The Luxe" and "Pretty Little Liars."
Alloy Entertainment will continue to collaborate on production and distribution of original digital programming with former sibling division Alloy Digital, which operates a top-ranking media and video network focused on the 12-34 demographic and is not part of the Warner Bros. agreement. Alloy Digital has launched six original Web series, including "Dating Rules From My Future Self," which starts its second season in August. Alloy Digital earlier this year acquired Generate, the digital production and management company founded by Jordan Levin (Daily Variety, Jan. 6).
Alloy's other remaining assets include Channel One, the television news network for teens, and Alloy Education, which works on student recruitment for higher education.
Warner Bros. hasn't been shy about its desire to beef up in TV production, at home and abroad. In 2010, it acquired the U.K.'s Shed Media, the indie production venture behind "Supernanny" and "Who Do You Think You Are?" Last year, it bought a majority stake in BlazHoffski Holding, a leading independent television producer in the Netherlands and Belgium. Time Warner has explored a purchase of Turkey's Sabah-ATV. And it would very much like to buy Dutch TV giant Endemol, recently emerged from bankruptcy, whose owners are deciding what to do with it.
Contact Jill Goldsmith at jill.goldsmith@variety.com