The new media company led by Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs has found its next acquisition.
The still-unnamed company will acquire the Israeli production company Faraway Road Productions, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. Faraway Road produces the Netflix shows Fauda and Hit & Run.
The deal is expected to be officially unveiled in the new year, and is expected to come in at under $50 million, making it a significantly smaller acquisition than their first two deals: Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine (valued at $900 million) and the kids entertainment company and Cocomelon owner Moonbug Entertainment (valued at $3 billion).
Mayer and Staggs are being staked by the investment firm Blackstone.
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Based in Tel Aviv, Faraway Road was founded by Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz. The company renewed its first-look deal with Netflix earlier this year. Raz stars in both Fauda and Hit & Run, with the former based on their team serving in the Israeli Defense Forces. Hit & Run, which featured a cliffhanger ending, was canceled on Sept. 20 after bowing on Netflix on Aug. 6.
“The bond between creators and their followers is very emotional and deep and it can be mined for a lot of opportunity,” Mayer said when asked about the new venture in September. “So, I like the idea of taking television and movie product and extending that relationship into social media and trying to engender new revenue streams.” He said the focus was on “category-defining businesses and brands” and the intersection between content, commerce and community, which he calls the 3Cs.
In addition to his new media company, Mayer also serves as chairman of the sports streaming service DAZN, and as a consultant to Discovery Inc.
The company had previously circled Will Smith’s Westbrook Entertainment, though talks ultimately ended without a deal.
