Fremantle’s acquisition spree continues with Israel’s Silvio Productions

L-R: Mika Timor, Yotam Guendelman, Andrea Scrosati and Abot Hameiri

Fremantle’s acquisition spree shows no sign of slowing down after the company took a majority stake in Israeli indie Silvio Productions, the Tel Aviv-based firm behind docuseries including Shadow of Truth and Coastal Road Killer. 

Silvio Productions was founded by director-writer-producer duo Yotam Guendelman and Mika Timor, who will collaborate with fellow Fremantle-owned Israeli prodco Abot Hameiri and gain the benefits of Fremantle’s global infrastructure, international distribution, and strategic support.

Under the terms of the agreement, which was spearheaded by Andrea Scrosati, Fremantle’s Group COO and CEO Continental Europe, and Guy Hameiri, co-founder of Abot Hameiri, the latter will assume the position of chairman of Silvio Productions, with Guendelman and Timor reporting into him.

Recent Silvio productions include Buried for Showtime, which follows the story of Eileen Franklin who suddenly remembered witnessing the murder of her childhood best friend, and The Baby Daddy for YES DOCU, which follows Ari Nagel, a math professor and the father of 117 children (and counting). Upcoming productions meanwhile include 1948 for KAN, Dunam and a Half for YES DOCU and a new season for Shadow of Truth for HOT8.

Fremantle’s investment in Silvio Productions comes following its acquisition of America The Beautiful producer Wildstar Films last week and UK-based 72 Films just a few days before that.

These in turn followed several other acquisitions made by the company over the past 12 months, including UK-based Normal People producer Element Pictures, UK indie Dancing Ledge (The Responder), scripted Italian production company Lux Vide (Devils, Leonardo), international development and production company Fabel (Bosch), Australian-American television production company Eureka Productions (Parental Guidance, Finding Magic Mike) and UK unscripted production company Label1 (Hospital, Five Guys a Week, Soldier) as well as 12 production labels in Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark from Nordic Entertainment Group (This is Nice Group).

Silvio Production co-founders, Yotam Guendelman and Mika Timor, said: “This is a truly unique opportunity for us. To join forces with the incredibly talented Fremantle team, with its unrivalled international infrastructure, and to work with Guy and the Abot Hameiri team, who are without doubt one of the best production companies in Israel. The cultural, creative, and business rationale is natural, and we look forward to working closely with Andrea (Scrosati) and Guy (Hameiri). With their support and the global reach of Fremantle, we will take our business growth trajectory and our ambitious slate to the next level.”