BOAT ROCKER MEDIA LEADERSHIP SIGN DEFINITIVE AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE BOAT ROCKER STUDIOS IN MANAGEMENT BUYOUT

Deal allows for the studio business to continue under current leadership as a top multi-genre content producer and international distributor

Concurrently Blue Ant Media will go-public via a reverse-takeover of BRMI and acquire Insight Productions, Jam Filled Entertainment and Proper Television

TORONTO, March 24, 2025 /CNW/ - Boat Rocker Media Inc. (BRMI) Co-Founders & Co-Executive Chairmen Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier and CEO John Young ("IDJCo") have signed a definitive agreement with BRMI (a public company listed on the TSX) to acquire the Boat Rocker Studios business from BRMI in a management buyout. The transaction is currently expected to close in June of 2025 pending shareholder and regulatory approvals and the satisfaction of other closing conditions.

The deal will see the three respected media executives and partners acquire the content business that Schneeberg and Fortier founded over twenty years ago as a small production company, and which has become Canada's pre-eminent content studio. The company will carry on as Boat Rocker and use the Boat Rocker names and brands and operate with the existing Boat Rocker Studios creative, production, distribution, studio finance and brands & franchise employees and infrastructure across its global offices.  

The deal will include Boat Rocker Studio's content investment business, all current projects, all library titles, and the company's fully integrated production, distribution, and brand assets and operations (except as provided below). Also included are Boat Rocker's interest in and partnership with celebrated animated IP producer Industrial Brothers (Dino Ranch, Daniel Spellbound), together with all of Boat Rocker's creative and venture partnerships. Not included in the deal are the BRMI public company infrastructure and listing and the standalone production houses Insight Productions, Jam Filled Entertainment and Proper Television (including all their owned IP), which are being combined with Blue Ant Media Inc. in a separate transaction.  

Post-closing, Boat Rocker Studios will be well capitalized and operationally focused on content creation and IP management, which has formed the foundation of the business since its inception. The company will continue to create, produce, package, and distribute best-in-class content across scripted, unscripted, and kids & family (live action and animation) out of its offices in Toronto, London, LA, NYC and Hong Kong.

"We are excited about this opportunity to acquire Boat Rocker Studios and use the resulting enhanced strategic focus and flexibility to capitalize on the exciting content creation, investment and partnership opportunities we see in the global marketplace," said Schneeberg, Fortier, and Young. "We will be more agile than ever, allowing us to move faster and lean in closer to projects we believe in. We will be better positioned to invest in amazing content and better able to ensure that the projects we are part of achieve their fullest potential, both in terms of entertainment value and worldwide sales. We will continue to work tirelessly to be the best independent studio partner in the world."

Boat Rocker Studios is working on an impressive slate of projects across all genres in various stages of production for major global buyers, including dramas Bet (with showrunner Simon Berry) for Netflix, The Ridge (from Great Southern Studios) for BBC Scotland and Sky New Zealand Originals, Last Second (from Duo Productions), animated kid's series Dino Ranch: Island Explorers (with Industrial Brothers) for Warner Bros. Discovery and CBC and The Sunnyridge 3 (with Blink Industries) for Disney+, and premium factual series Sneaker Wars: Adidas v. Puma for Disney+. The company also manages worldwide rights to a number of exciting recent scripted projects, including Video Nasty (from Deadpan Pictures) for BBC Northern Ireland, BBC Three, Virgin Media One and WDR, and Mix Tape (from Subotica and Aquarius Films) for Binge, together with a fresh slate of unscripted projects, including several hit series from Shark Teeth Films, including Secrets in the Ice and Discovered by Disaster, and Claw Hunters from Attraction Films. It also recently inked an output deal to represent the Weather Group's catalogue of content.

Additionally, Boat Rocker Studios is behind hundreds of premium, award-winning series across all genres, including Invasion (Apple TV+), Palm Royale (Apple TV+), Orphan Black: Echoes (AMC), Orphan Black (BBC AMERICA, CTV Sci-Fi Channel), American Rust: Broken Justice (Prime Video), Beacon 23 (MGM+), The Next Step (BBC, Corus, CBC), Dino Ranch (Disney+, Disney Junior, CBC), The Strange Chores (with Ludo Studios and Media World) and Downey's Dream Cars (Max) in addition to numerous feature documentaries, including Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (Hulu), This Is the Tom Green Documentary (Prime Video), BS High (HBO), War Game, Merchants of Joy, and Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry (Apple TV+).

SOURCE IDJCo