Warner Music Entertainment, the film and television division of Warner Music Group, has partnered with London and Los Angeles based television and film production company Lightbox to co-produce, co-develop and co-finance non-fiction film and TV projects.
The deal will enable Lightbox to create stories about WMG’s roster of artists, writers and legacy acts by giving the former access to the latter’s catalog.
Lightbox was founded by producers, Simon Chinn, who has credits on Searching For Sugar Man, Man on Wire, TINA, and Jonathan Chinn, who’s known for LA 92, Whitney, Hip Hop Uncovered. In a joint statement, the pair said “will open up the vaults to an archive of amazing musical talent and rich history of songwriters and performers.”
The press release for the deal didn’t include which projects are currently set to come out of the partnership. In addition to the aforementioned projects credited to Simon and Jonathan Chinn, Lightbox and its principals’ credits in the music space include Supervillain: The Making of Tekashi 6ix9ine. Their project TINA has been nominated for three Emmys, including Best Documentary Special. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring some of Warner Music’s extraordinary artists and their stories to audiences around the world,” the producers said.
According to Charlie Cohen, president, TV & Film at WMG, the new partnership comes as part of Warner’s recent efforts to expand their film and TV content into global markets, with an emphasis on local artists and local language production. “I’m delighted that we’ve been able to expand Warner Music Entertainment’s reach and expertise with this partnership,” he said. “This partnership with Lightbox is an important part of this expansion.”
WME has produced longform series and documentaries such as American Utopia, which racked up six Emmy nominations, Crock of Gold: A Few Rounds with Shane MacGowan, Ed Sheeran: TikTok Euro 2020 Live Performance, Harry Chapin: When in Doubt, Do Something, Laurel Canyon: A Place in Time, Liam Gallagher: As It Was, Together We Rise: The Uncompromised Story of GRM Daily, Tom Petty Somewhere You Feel Free, Gorillaz: Reject False Icons and Genius: Aretha, which has three Emmy nominations to its name.
“This is a really exciting partnership for us at Warner Music,” said Kate Shepherd, managing director, Warner Music Entertainment UK “We have such an incredible array of artists whose stories deserve to be told and Simon, Jonathan and the Lightbox team are experts in storytelling and film-making.”
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