Wheelhouse partners with theme park operator Merlin on attractions-focused unscripted slate

The London Eye (Courtesy of Merlin Entertainments)

Brent Montgomery’s production firm Wheelhouse has partnered with UK-based theme park and attractions operator Merlin Entertainments.

The deal will see the two companies collaborate on a slate of original unscripted TV shows based around Merlin’s attractions.

Merlin owns more than 140 attractions in 23 countries, including theme parks such as Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Chessington World of Adventures Resort. Its Gateway Attractions portfolio, meanwhile, includes brands such as Sea Life, Legoland, the London Eye and Warwick Castle.

The companies will develop programming spanning a range of genres, including reality, documentary and game shows, with the slate overseen by Wheelhouse’s chief content officer Glenn Hugill, the Possessed TV founder who was appointed to lead the company’s UK arm earlier this year.

Wheelhouse, which received investment from US-based private equity firm Alignment Growth, earlier this week, is behind titles including Netflix’s King Of Collectibles and Hulu’s Secret Chef.

“It’s a great privilege to develop a roster of new programming around Merlin’s world-famous and iconic attractions, and we’re eager to deploy Wheelhouse’s full arsenal of creative and business capabilities in this partnership,” said Montgomery.