Rasha Drachkovitch and Stephanie Noonan Drachkovitch COURTESY OF 44 BLUE PRODUCTIONS
Daniel Holloway Variety July 20,2016 | 5:00AM PT
German-based Red Arrow Entertainment Group has acquired a majority stake in 44 Blue Productions, U.S. producer of unscripted series such as A&E’s “Wahlburgers.” With the acquisition, Red Arrow now has nine U.S. companies in its portfolio.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but Red Arrow has acquired a 65% stake in the U.S. company.
Co-founders Rasha and Stephanie Noonan Drachkovitch will continue to run 44 Blue, with Red Arrow now handling all international distribution of its shows.
“Rasha and Stephanie have over 40 years of combined production experience and have established a first-rate and highly respected team,” Jan Frouman, chairman and CEO of Red Arrow Entertainment Group. “Working together with 44 Blue is a great opportunity for Red Arrow to partner with a dynamic, successful and highly collaborative company. This partnership offers us expanded access to A-list talent and premium factual and reality TV content.”
Among the shows that 44 Blue produces are A&E’s “Nightwatch,” E!’s “Hollywood Medium with Tyler Henry,” Animal Planet’s “Pit Bulls & Parolees” and MSNBC’s “Lockup.” The company has partnered with talent such as Mark Wahlberg, Donnie Wahlberg, Whoopi Goldberg, Dick Wolf, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Bishop T.D. Jakes, Melissa Joan Hart and Jennifer Garner.
“Our partnership with Red Arrow immediately unlocks global distribution and access to the kind of scale that will allow us to leverage our formats and expand our storytelling to new audiences around the world,” said Rasha Drachkovitch.
Stephanie Noonan Drachkovitch added, “We’ve been consistently impressed by Red Arrow for quite some time, and couldn’t have asked for a better strategic partner.”