BOAT ROCKER STUDIOS COMPLETES MANAGEMENT BUYOUT, BEGINS NEXT CHAPTER AS INDEPENDENT PRIVATE COMPANY
Led by co-founders David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg alongside longtime partner John Young, Boat Rocker Studios will continue to operate under its existing leadership team and brand. The newly private studio retains its award-winning Scripted, Unscripted, and Kids & Family divisions together with its global distribution business, brand & franchise group, and creative partnerships arm.
"This exciting next chapter gives us the independence and flexibility to continue bringing compelling and entertaining stories to audiences around the world across all genres and platforms," said Fortier, Schneeberg, and Young in a joint statement. "We're energized by the opportunity ahead and grateful to our partners, creators, and teams for their continued belief in Boat Rocker."
An independent, integrated global entertainment company, Boat Rocker's mission is to tell stories and build iconic brands across all genres and mediums. With offices around the world, Boat Rocker brings end-to-end creative expertise, robust business operations, and global franchise capabilities across Scripted, Unscripted, Documentary, and Kids & Family content. Its services span production, distribution, and brand & franchise management. In partnership with Industrial Brothers, Boat Rocker develops, produces, and exploits Industrial Brothers' innovative and original animated series for preschool and family audiences. A selection of Boat Rocker's projects includes Invasion (Apple TV+), Palm Royale (Apple TV+), Mix Tape (BBC, Binge, RTE), Video Nasty (BBC Northern Ireland, BBC Three, Virgin Media One, WDR), This Is the Tom Green Documentary (Prime Video), Orphan Black: Echoes (AMC), American Rust: Broken Justice (Prime Video), Beacon 23 (MGM+), Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields (Hulu), Downey's Dream Cars (Max), BS High (HBO), Orphan Black (BBC AMERICA, CTV Sci-Fi Channel), Billie Eilish: The World's a Little Blurry (Apple TV+), The Next Step (BBC, Corus, CBC), Daniel Spellbound (Netflix), Dino Ranch (Disney+, Disney Junior, CBC), and Dino Ranch: Island Explorers (Amazon Kids+, CBC, Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA). For more information, please visit www.boatrocker.com.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
8 hours ago
Sellouts for Nolan's The Odyssey shows audiences' hunger for movies projected on film
A shattered statue, scattered amber, smoke plumes, a hint of defiance, a release date and a director's name — the theatrical teaser and accompanying poster for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey was all it took for the film to sell out select cinemas a year in advance of its July 17, 2026, release date. The select theatres — 16 in the U.S., six in Canada, two in the U.K., one in Australia and one in the Czech Republic — are all expansive cinemas that project on 70 mm Imax film. The rush could be interpreted as a rejection of near-ubiquitous digital screenings in favour of the analog appeal of celluloid. Enlarge image (new window) Ryan Holota, the chief operating officer at Regina's science centre, cuts film from the Oppenheimer reel in the projection booth of the Kramer Imax theatre in Regina. Photo: CBC / Shlok Talati The Kramer Imax in Regina's science centre is one of the theatres projecting Nolan's latest in 70 mm. The 147-seat theatre has sold out all four of its available shows for the next year, including a 2 p.m. show on Thursday. Ryan Holota, the centre's chief operating officer, said tickets started to fly as soon as they went on sale July 17. I think people are really starting to understand how rare of an experience it is to be able to watch a movie on film, especially in 2025. Until 2023, Kramer Imax only used film with its Imax Small Rotor 15/70 mm projector. The theatre decided to add a digital projector — the Imax Grand Theatre Laser — because of a lack of movies releasing on film, Holota said. He said they feel rewarded for preserving and keeping the film projector operational. It's really a special thing to be a part of that when we're selling movie tickets to people that live in Finland or Florida or the Middle East. We've had people fly out to watch shows here, he said. Enlarge image (new window) Filmmaker Christopher Nolan works with an Imax camera on the set of Oppenheimer with actor Cillian Murphy. Photo: Associated Press / Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures The Odyssey is the first commercial production to be filmed entirely with Imax cameras, but not the only recent movie to put its shot-on-film status in the forefront. Ryan Coogler's recent outing Sinners , partly shot on film, quickly garnered critical acclaim and commercial success after releasing in theatres in April. Following its release, hundreds of thousands of people watched Coogler's YouTube explainer (new window) on aspect ratios, illustrating differences between Super 8, Super 16, 35mm and 65/70 mm films. Holota said he's seen the inquisitiveness about movie formats increase in real time. He said moviegoers are more informed than ever. I certainly have seen times when we've run film, people have said, 'what would this look like in digital?' If we had a digital screening, they say, 'what would this have looked like on film?' he said. I think now people, sort of, are really starting to understand the differences, and oftentimes seeking out that experience. Enlarge image (new window) Mark Welton, global president at Imax Theatres, says the company's aiming to increase the number of screens that use film projectors by roughly 20 per cent over the next year. Photo: CBC / Shlok Talati Mark Welton, president of Imax Global theatres worldwide, said the demand is not just on the consumer's end. Welton said he's seeing more movies shot with film cameras. Although the company debuted four more cameras last year, which allows two Imax shoots to occur concurrently, there's still a finite number of them available — 12 currently. [It is] because we're seeing so much demand from the directors, he said. The number of people filling theatre seats for the big screen experience is evident in the company's financial reports (new window) . In the first six months this year, Imax's net income almost doubled to $20.4 million, compared to $10.5 million in the same period last year. WATCH | Big movies on big screens: Imax bucks downward box-office trend: Imax digital and Imax film More recently, Mission: Impossible -The Final Reckoning , F1: The Movie, Fantastic Four: First Steps, Thunderbolts*, and Superman were all partly or fully shot on Imax digital cameras, which are different from the film cameras Nolan has used. Despite the similarities in projection ratios, Welton said more people have started gravitating toward the feel of film. It's really the gold standard for resolution, clarity, and scale, Welton said. It's like vinyl. Vinyl is the way that you really listen to the music world. Enlarge image (new window) Ryan Holota, chief operating officer at Regina's science centre, says a 70mm film (the larger film) on an Imax 1:43:1 screen gives viewers about 40 per cent more image than the smaller standard 35mm film. Photo: CBC / Shlok Talati In 2008, the company introduced (new window) Digital Imax, a lower-cost system that used two 2K digital projectors. Since then, the company has released multiple variations of the digital systems, like the one at Kramer that uses a dual laser. The film projector, on the other hand, runs physical 70 mm film through the projector. Regina's Kramer theatre has an aspect ratio of 1.43:1, which means the screen width is 1.43 times the height. For Imax movies, Holota says, this gives viewers about 40 per cent more image than a standard movie. Kramer has the largest screen in Saskatchewan. Both the digital and film projector are capable of filling up that entire screen, but Holota said there are differences. He said there's an extra bit of warmth and film grain when a movie is shot and replayed on film. There's just sort of a fluidity to it that just makes it feel a little bit more organic, and maybe a little bit more lifelike. Holota said there is significance in the journey celluloid makes from filmmaker to viewer and beyond. It's like your theatre leaves its fingerprint on every film print that you have. If we ship that print somewhere else, there's sort of like a piece of the Kramer IMAX with it, which I think is really cool, he said. Enlarge image (new window) Tyson Liske, a Regina resident, has bought his tickets for The Odyssey a year in advance. Photo: Submitted by Tyson Liske Tyson Liske, a Regina resident, has bought his tickets for The Odyssey a year in advance. It's the first time in his life he's bought tickets this early, he said. You almost have the fingerprint of the filmmaker themselves on the film itself as you watch it. It's really true to life as best they can recreate what's happening in that scene, he said. You can do so much with digitization, which is great and phenomenal, but there's something really special about that permanence on the film itself, which really adds to the experience for me. Liske said he watched Nolan's 2020 movie Tenet twice — once in Imax and once in a normal theatre. Those who are missing out, it's just a different experience. I think it's like comparing apples to oranges. Enlarge image (new window) Siddhant Adlakha, a freelance movie critic, says decades-long strides in automation has rendered the job of some projectionists dispensable. Photo: Submitted by Siddhant Adlakha Siddhant Adlakha, a freelance movie critic, said he's seen 70 mm film screenings sell out for weeks and months at a time. It seems to have exploded in a really interesting way post-pandemic, he said. In an age when so much of theatrical projection is digital, I think there is a desire for that nostalgia, that old world tactility. Accessibility of the 'intended' format Some filmmakers, including Nolan (new window) and Coogler (new window) , have referred to Imax as the intended experience. Nolan's Oppenheimer was projected on film (new window) in 30 cinemas worldwide, with 25 of them being in North America. Enlarge image (new window) Canadian filmmaker and Imax co-founder Graeme Ferguson films a space shuttle launch for his 1982 Imax film Hail Columbia! Imax is not only a Canadian's brainchild but also a breakthrough that coincided with Canada's Centennial year. Photo: Roger Scruggs/Courtesy of Graeme Ferguson Imax was founded in Mississauga in 1967 after four Canadians bought the rights to the rolling loop film movement system from an Australian inventor. In 1971, the first permanent Imax theatre was opened (new window) in the Cinesphere at Ontario Place in Toronto. Despite its Canadian roots, the country only has six screens selling tickets for The Odyssey on film as of Saturday: two in Toronto and one each in Calgary, Regina, Edmonton, and Vancouver. Welton said there isn't yet a set number for how many cinemas will screen Nolan's adaptation of the Greek epic on film, but that they're aiming to increase the number by roughly 20 per cent over the next year. Even with a 20 per cent increase over Oppenheimer , The Odyssey would only be projected on film in less than 40 theatres worldwide, but Adlakha said that number could be increased if the will is there. It wasn't that long ago that even the most remote parts of the world would still receive 35 mm film prints for new film releases. So it's not that crazy to think that the same thing could theoretically be done for 70 mm Imax, given the right infrastructure. Regina's Kramer Imax employs a projectionist on contract for shows involving film projectors. It's also now training employees on operating and handling film. Adlakha said one of the issues is decades of strides in automation that have put many projectionists out of work. If people are willing to invest that money and give projectionists the time and money and training, I think [expansion] is absolutely doable. Shlok Talati (new window) · CBC News · Journalist Based in Regina, Shlok Talati is a reporter with CBC Saskatchewan. Talati joined CBC News as a Donaldson Scholar in 2023. He has since worked with The World This Hour, CBC Toronto's digital desk, and CBC Sask. He holds a master of journalism from the University of King's College, Halifax. You can reach him at Follow Shlok Talati on Twitter (new window)
Globe and Mail
16 hours ago
- Globe and Mail
Apple TV+ triples down on Seth Rogen with the hilarious second season of Platonic
It all started with a mullet. Or at least what Seth Rogen recalls when asked about the second season production of his hilarious Apple TV+ series Platonic, in which his character, a bar manager named Will, adopts the business-in-the-front-party-in-the-back hairstyle that thematically signifies the ne'er-do-well's arrested development. 'There was this gentleman who came in as a grip as we were finishing shooting The Studio, and he had this mullet and instantly my hair and makeup team, who we share across shows, knew that oh yeah, we like that,' Rogen says with his trademark chuckle. 'It was the perfect look for my character. I don't even know the guy's name, but maybe he'll see this interview and clue in.' The mullet – which Rogen is careful to emphasize was in fact a wig that was removed at the end of every shooting day ('it was a merkin situation') – is just one of the many small but significant details that make up Platonic's delightfully hilarious and eccentric vision of Los Angeles, where Will and his best friend Sylvia (Rose Byrne) endure all manner of comic misadventures. Picking up where the first season left off – with Will set to marry the CEO of a brewing empire, and Sylvia finding some level of peace with her ultra-considerate lawyer husband Charlie (Luke Macfarlane) – the second batch of Platonic episodes represents something of the platonic ideal of a streaming-era sitcom. Each 30-minute-or-so episode offers the kind of warm and straight-shooting humour that most television series these days seem allergic to. There is no hidden darkness, no trauma needing to be unearthed. Every tightly edited episode simply provides a great opportunity to hang with characters who you love, even – or perhaps especially – when they get themselves into all manner of forehead-slapping predicaments. In other words, this ain't The Bear – it's just funny for funny's sake. 'We were very clear from the beginning that it's kind of like trivial, but also in a way relatable – it's not about things that are extraordinary,' Rogen says in an interview. 'You know, divorce, midlife crises, losing your job, having kids, trying to start over. It's not life or death stakes, or like true trauma. It's more everyday stuff, and that's what's really funny about the show.' 'And it's light, it's not heavy stuff,' adds Byrne, sitting alongside her longtime collaborator (in addition to the first season of Platonic, the pair played a married couple in 2014's Neighbors and its severely underrated 2016 sequel, Neighbors: Sorority Rising). 'It's very clear about that.' As conceived by Nicholas Stoller and his wife Francesca Delbanco, Platonic has so far not earned the excitable chatter, or Emmy nominations, of Rogen's other Apple TV+ series, The Studio. Yet it is undoubtedly the more affable and even purely enjoyable of the two, its breezy pacing and note-perfect casting making it one of the more witty small-screen comedies to come along in years. Its extreme levels of comfort might not be possible, though, were it not for the close relationships that make up its behind-the-scenes team. In addition to the obvious domestic closeness shared between Stoller and Delbanco, the former has been friends with Rogen since their days on Fox's short-lived campus comedy Undeclared. That sitcom also co-starred Carla Gallo, who appears in Platonic as Cynthia's best friend, a divorced mom and aspiring podcaster named Katie (and whose adventures with Will this season will surely fulfill the dreams of all the Undeclared fan-fiction writers out there). Meanwhile, Stoller directed the whole gang – Rogen, Byrne, Gallo, plus The Studio's Ike Barinholtz – in both Neighbors films. 'I've known Nick since I was 18, which is also when I met Carla on the show. And with Rose now it's been almost 15 years, so it feels familial at this point,' Rogen says. 'I mostly just think that it's nice that we can get along and also work so well together. Our sensibilities are still the same, and none of us has done anything that has, you know, exiled us from the industry. I mean, the day is young, but those are all things that aren't lost on me.' 'I mean Nick gave me my break in comedy,' Byrne adds. 'I'd done all this dramatic, very serious stuff. I was solving cases with Glenn Close on Damages, so it was all crime, crime, crime, and I was not the first candidate to be a funny actress by any means, and he took a chance on me.' Also getting a second chance here is the Canadian actor Macfarlane, who was originally set for big-screen stardom with Stoller's 2022 comedy Bros, before that same-sex romcom ended up underwhelming at the box office. While the actor got a sizable amount of screen time in the first season of Platonic as Sylvia's put-upon husband, the character gets a big boost this time around as Charlie endures a midlife crisis that revolves around a deeply strange yet intensely funny appearance on Jeopardy! (This results in the second-best Jeopardy! sitcom moment ever filmed, following John Ratzenberger's immortal moment with Alex Trebek during a Season 8 episode of Cheers.) 'Nick is a super-busy guy and he came up to me at an event and said, 'Oh I have this super-funny thing that's going to happen to you!' But then I didn't see any scripts for a long time,' Macfarlane recalls in a separate interview. 'But the funny thing was that no one actually knew I was a huge fan of the show. So when I stepped onto the set of Jeopardy!, I was such a fan that I noticed it was a slightly new set. They update it every few months or so. And I noticed that because I do truly watch the show. All the time.' As for the opportunity to once again work with not only his onscreen wife Byrne and fellow Canadian Rogen but also Stoller, Macfarlane is, as most of the Platonic characters are, gracious to a fault. 'Nick and Francesca are so good at finding these little pieces of comedy. It's not pratfalls, it's not gross-out moments, it's just comedy that comes from observing humans every single day,' the actor says. 'The show doesn't feel loud. It's grounded in the small things. And that's where we laugh the most in our lives, isn't it?' The first two episodes of Platonic Season 2 are available to stream Aug. 6 on Apple TV+, with new episodes premiering weekly until Oct. 1.
CBC
20 hours ago
- CBC
A Toronto developer claims his video game was ripped off by a European company
Fans of a video game that celebrates Tamil culture and food have been pointing out a very similar Eastern Europe game that recently came out. As CBC's Talia Ricci explains, some say this highlights a long standing issue in the gaming industry.
