RHI emerging from bankruptcy and announces US$20m Power deal

RHI Entertainment has received court approval for a reorganisation plan that will see it emerge from bankruptcy and reduce its debt load by US$400 million. It also announced a raft of programming agreements, including a US$20 million miniseries and output deal with Power Corp.

The TV movie and miniseries specialist filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last December. Under the plan approved yesterday, it will restructure its debts, effectively wiping US$298 million from the total and save a further US$100 million after renegotiating deals with various guilds and production partners.

The company said it has carried on doing business through the bankruptcy hearings and has announced a raft of new programming deals. These include a US$20 million deal with Power Corp, another TV movies and miniseries specialist that has undergone financial troubles – it was acquired by an investment company in December and the new-look Power will be run by former Sony exec Danny Goldman.

RHI and Power said they will produce three new miniseries including Alistair MacLean’s Air Force One Is Down and Alistair MacLean’s Dark Crusader . The two have also agreed output deals that will see Power distribute a slate of TV movies and miniseries in Central and Eastern Europe and Latin America and RHI handle sales across the rest of the world.

Separately, RHI said it is making two new TV movies for US cable net Syfy, Bog Monster and Scarecrow.