TORONTO – Alliance Films has jumped into the reality TV production business.
The Canadian indie film distributor, now being shopped by the Bank of Montreal on behalf of Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, is producing Undercover Boss Canada for the Canadian women’s cable channel W Network.
Montreal-based Alliance Films, which distributes popular films like The King’s Speech through a series of plum studio supply deals, is shooting ten one hours of the reality TV series about disguised Canadian CEOs fumbling in frontline jobs.
Unlike its Canadian rivals like Lionsgate and Entertainment One, Alliance Films has never been deep in film and TV production to offset the risk of theatrical releases.
But Goldman Sachs Capital Partners is now selling its controlling stake in Alliance Films, while retaining a half-stake in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation TV franchise that came with a $2.3 billion takeover deal of the former Alliance Atlantis Communications Corp. in 2007.
Undercover Boss Canada is based on the format from Studio Lambert, a division of the ALL3MEDIA group.
The top-rated CTV network features the U.S. version of Undercover Boss from CBS on its primetime schedule.
The Canadian version will feature top executives from Molson Coors Canada, the Toronto Transit Commission, Pizza Pizza and The Toronto Zoo hitting the shop floor.
The debut episode of Undercover Boss Canada will air February 2.
