Company rebranded from RHI Entertainment.

RHI Entertainment has been rebranded as Sonar Entertainment, as Stewart Till has been named CEO of the company.

Till had been named co-interim CEO alongside Mike Corrigan and David Salzman in July 2011 and has also served on the company’s board since then. The industry veteran has worked at Icon UK, PolyGram, and UIP.

The announcement was made at MIPTV in Cannes by board chair Gabriel de Alba, who said: “Rebranding as Sonar Entertainment represents a fresh start and a solid business strategy for growth and expansion. While we are committed to maintaining the same high level of quality that has always been an RHI trademark, we are also looking ahead to developing new concepts, content and formats, in different genres and with a variety of partners.”

“Stewart Till is the ideal executive to lead Sonar into the future,” de Alba continued. “He has demonstrated exceptional leadership skills, an outstanding creative sensibility, an unparalleled understanding of the global marketplace and a forward looking vision for where he will take the company.  We could not be in better hands as we move ahead in the coming months and beyond.”

“This is a huge opportunity for all of us and I’m thrilled to be a part of it,” Till added.  “As with any organization, the leadership is only as strong as the overall team and the Sonar team is exceptional.  We have spent many months preparing for this moment and I am excited to say that we are hitting the ground running with a number of major programming announcements – and more to come shortly.  We are excited to be able to introduce Sonar Entertainment to the world at the industry’s largest global television market.”

Sonar’s slate includes the Disaster Pack: Volume One, including five four-hour disaster themed miniseries: Category 8, Eve of Distruction, Dark Universe, Shockwave and World on Fire.

The company has also signed a deal with Steven E De Souza (Die Hard, Knight Rider) to develop one-hour action series MPH, about an international law enforcement unit.

Sonar is partnering with Muse Entertainment for mini-series King Tut; and it is partnering with Kickstart Productions on two-hour pilot The Hunters, about a secret society (Sonar has all global TV distribution rights while ARC Entertainment has rights to the US DVD).

Sonar has also taken on distribution rights to Canadian drama series Bomb Girls starring Meg Tilly, Ali Liebert and Anastasia Philips. The series, set during WWII, is about women working in munitions factories.

Also on the international slate is After All These Years, Christmas Heart, Good Scouts, and Meddling Mon.

Sonar has the rights to more than 1,000 titles.

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