Boat Rocker Media is a Canadian entertainment company, based in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

. The company owns Boat Rocker Studios, which incorporates

Temple Street Productions Temple Street Productions is a Canadian television, film, and digital media production company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, owned by Boat Rocker Studios, a division of Boat Rocker Media. Past and present Temple Street projects include ''Orp ...

. Its majority

shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...

is Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Boat Rocker Media is led by co-executive chairs David Fortier and Ivan Schneeberg and CEO John Young. Boat Rocker produces and distributes a wide range of scripted and unscripted television shows, animation and family content, such as ''

Invasion An invasion is a military offensive in which large numbers of combatants of one geopolitical entity aggressively enter territory owned by another such entity, generally with the objective of either: conquering; liberating or re-establishing con ...

'', '' American Rust'', ''

Billie Eilish Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single " Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her brother Finneas O'Connell, with whom ...

: The World’s a Little Blurry'', ''

Orphan Black ''Orphan Black'' is a Canadian Science fiction on television, science-fiction Thriller (genre), thriller television series created by screenwriter Graeme Manson and director John Fawcett (director), John Fawcett and starring Tatiana Maslany. Th ...

'', and ''

Dino Ranch ''Dino Ranch'' is a CGI animated children's television series created by Matthew Fernandes, co-founder and chief creative officer of Industrial Brothers. Dino Ranch follows the adventures of the Cassidy family as they tackle life on the ranch in ...

''. Boat Rocker owns other entertainment properties, including

Jam Filled Entertainment Jam Filled Entertainment is a Canadian animation studio based in Ottawa, Ontario with additional facilities in Toronto and Halifax and is a division of Boat Rocker Media. It is best known for animating ''Thomas & Friends'' between 2013 and 2020, ...

Insight Productions Insight Productions is a Canadian production company based in Toronto, Ontario. It was established in 1970. Insight is led by CEO John Brunton. History Insight Productions was established in 1970 by Penray "Pen" Densham and John Kingsley Wa ...

Matador Content Matador Content (also known as Matador) is an American production company founded in 2013 by Jay Peterson and Todd Lubin. The company produces feature films (mainly documentaries), unscripted television, scripted television and digital programm ...

Platform One Media Boat Rocker Media is a Canadian entertainment company, based in Toronto, Ontario. The company owns Boat Rocker Studios, which incorporates Temple Street Productions. Its majority shareholder is Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. Boat Rocker Media is ...

, and does talent management and venture investing.

History

Boat Rocker was established in 2003 by Ivan Schneeberg and David Fortier. Its largest division, Boat Rocker Studios, encompasses

, which was acquired by Schneeberg and Fortier in 2006. The company's other divisions were: Boat Rocker Animation, Boat Rocker Ventures, and Boat Rocker Rights. Boat Rocker Rights' first outside distribution deal was with the pick-up of international rights to Rotfield Productions' Xploration Station block programs in late February 2016. Then in June 2016, the unit acquired Mountain Road Productions library distribution rights plus a first look deal with the company. In 2016, Boat Rocker Media purchased

Radical Sheep Productions Radical Sheep Productions was a Canadian television production company known for producing series including '' The Next Step'', '' Stella and Sam'', and '' The Big Comfy Couch'', the latter a Gemini Award-winning series for preschoolers which pro ...

, which continued operating as Boat Rocker's family and children's media unit, In early August 2016, Boat Rocker purchased Jam Filled Entertainment, which was to continuing operating with current management and name. Boat Rocker through Jam Filled purchased

Arc Productions Jam Filled Entertainment is a Canadian animation studio based in Ottawa, Ontario with additional facilities in Toronto and Halifax and is a division of Boat Rocker Media. It is best known for animating ''Thomas & Friends'' between 2013 and 2020, ...

' main assets on August 22, 2016, and reopened Arc's Toronto office. In January 2018, Boat Rocker acquired

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

's Kids and Family Entertainment division, which includes the children's programming library of

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

. In November 2018, Boat Rocker acquired

, producers of the

Paramount Network Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was or ...

show ''

Lip Sync Battle ''Lip Sync Battle'' is an American musical reality competition television series that premiered on April 2, 2015, on the American cable network Spike, later known as Paramount Network. The show is based on an idea by Stephen Merchant and John K ...

'' and its spinoff '' Lip Sync Battle Shorties'' on sister network

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

. In March 2019, Boat Rocker invested in Untitled Entertainment, a talent management and production company. It has also made investments in

Realm Media Realm, formerly Serial Box, is an American audio entertainment company that creates original fiction podcasts and audiobook series, which include continuations of TV series. Realm’s podcasts feature an array of production styles depending on th ...

, the

Toronto Arrows Toronto Arrows R.F.C. is a rugby union club based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that plays in Major League Rugby. The Arrows team is an independent off-shoot of the Ontario Blues provincial programme and is funded by a group of private investors ...

, CAA Creative Labs, and MarcoPolo Learning. In September 2019, Boat Rocker acquired Platform One Media, a Los Angeles-based television production and sales company operated by television producer Katie O’Connell Marsh, whose credits include ''

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...

'' and ''

Narcos ''Narcos'' is an American-Colombian crime drama television series created and produced by Chris Brancato, Carlo Bernard, and Doug Miro. Set and filmed in Colombia, seasons 1 and 2 are based on the story of Colombian narcoterrorist and drug kin ...

''. (Marsh stayed on after the acquisition.) In December 2020,

Temple Street A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called church (building), churches), Hindui ...

was incorporated into Boat Rocker Studios, Scripted. Boat Rocker signed

first-look deal A first-look deal is any contract containing a clause granting, usually for a fee or other consideration that covers a specified period of time, a pre-emption right, right of first refusal, or right of first offer (also called a right of first neg ...

s with

Lena Headey Lena Kathren Headey ( ; born 3 October 1973) is a British actress. She gained international recognition and acclaim for her portrayal of Cersei Lannister on the HBO epic fantasy drama series '' Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which she re ...

’s Peephole Productions and

Dakota Johnson Dakota Mayi Johnson (born October 4, 1989) is an American actress. The daughter of actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, she made her film debut at age ten with a minor role in the dark comedy film ''Crazy in Alabama'' (1999) with her mothe ...

’s TeaTime Pictures. In March 2021, it partnered with television executive Jessica Sebastian-Dayeh to create Maven, which focuses on female-led stories. Most recently, on December 20, 2021, Boat Rocker had bought out a minority stake in the TeaTime Pictures production company.

Units

*Boat Rocker Rights & Brands *Boat Rocker Ventures *Boat Rocker Studios, Scripted *Boat Rocker Studios, Unscripted **

** Maven **

** Proper Television *Boat Rocker Studios, Kids and Family ** Industrial Brothers (minority stake) ** Jam Filled Entertainment

Filmography

Animation

Television

Upcoming

References

{{Reflist

External links

Boat Rocker Media
Canadian companies established in 2003 Holding companies established in 2003 Companies based in Toronto Companies listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange Mass media companies established in 2003 Holding companies of Canada Television production companies of Canada 2003 establishments in Ontario