Industry veterans Dominic Ianno, John Baldecchi, Alex Dundas and Griffin Gmelich have launched Roundtable Entertainment, a multi-genre content creator and multi-platform production company.
Klingenstein Fields Advisors leads the first round of investment and Ingenious Media is backing the company’s initial film slate which includes Sacrament directed by Gary Fleder froma script by P.G. Cuschieri about a former operative who travels to Mexico to exact revenge on the drug cartel which murdered his son.
Ianno, a former head or partner at Team Whistle, Indomitable Entertainment and Outlaw Productions who has served as executive producer on Soul Surfer and Crash Pad, brought the team together and will lead Roundtable Entertainment as CEO and serve as executive producer across the slate.
Baldecchi’s producer credits include The Mexican and the Point Break reboot and he serves as Roundtable Entertainment’s head of film and scripted content with a focus on developing IP for streaming and theatrical features, episodic shows and podcasts. Dundas (Big Brother, The Contender), formerly ITV America’s EVP of head of ITV entertainment and a senior executive at Mark Burnett Productions and MGM, leads Roundtable Entertainment’s non-scripted initiatives.
Roundtable Entertainment is partnering with Foundation Sales and Consulting on the distribution side. Led by Griffin Gmelich, formerly of Hulu, Warner Bros and Universal/Vivendi. Foundation Sales and Consulting will bring Roundtable Entertainment’s content offerings to digital platforms.
Robert Norton, the former chief business officer of Animal Logic and COO of Scott Free who is also a co-founder of Roundtable Entertainment, will sit on the company’s board.
On the TV side, Roundtable Entertainment is producing comedy series Fame & Misfortune starring Jane Seymour. The series is written by Seymour’s Sean Flynn based on his life and tells the tale of a young artist who falls for a rising influencer and must reluctantly embrace his celebrity roots in order to win her affections only to become more famous in the process and overshadow his dismayed mother. Executive producers are Tim Gibbons, James Gibb, Ianno, Baldecchi and Dundas. ICM Partners handles worldwide sales.
Besides production of scripted and non-scripted content Roundtable will distribute its own and third-party content into multiple channels including audio distribution.
“Epic content spending tailwinds, voracious consumer appetite for quality content, and the explosion of the markets in non-scripted content, FAST channels, and podcasting compelled us to launch the company,” said Ianno. “This powerful team of highly seasoned experts has enabled us to go to market with a full slate of packaged IP, strategic partners, capital and top-tier distribution partners and launch with velocity and traction.”
James Fields of Klingenstein Fields Advisors added, “The Roundtable Entertainment team brings deep industry experience, longstanding relationships with top-tier talent, agencies and distribution channels. Their diversified revenue model, with multiple channels of exploitation, was too good to pass up.”
Peter Touche of Ingenious Media said: “Dom has assembled a great team of executives, each with a solid track record, to select and execute highly commercial projects for the worldwide marketplace. Most importantly, they are being very smart in navigating the digital distribution world that we are all coming to grips with.”
Handler Thayer LLP served as counsel on the transaction and Steven J. Thayer joined the company’s advisory board.
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