The Gurin Company, run by Phil Gurin, whose credits include exec producing ABC’s Shark Tank, and rising British producer Strawberry Blond have teamed up to co-develop formats in the U.S. and UK.
The two companies are developing a number of alternative series and have already started pitching projects, including entertainment series 24 Hours From Here and The Wedding Race, reality show Malled In, and comedy dating format Comic Attraction, to broadcasters in the U.S. and UK.
The Gurin Company produces Canadian competition format Fridge Wars, which is heading to The CW this summer and previously produced NBC’s The Singing Bee.
Strawberry Blond TV, which is run by former Warner Bros and Disney exec Steve Wynne, produces BBC chart show The Playlist and Channel 4’s The Great Big Dig. The production company was recently named Best Place to Work by UK trade Broadcast.
Strawberry Blond CEO Steve Wynne, said, “Phil is the nicest and smartest person in TV, even though he’s American. We’re genuinely excited to be finally working together and not just drinking wine.”
Gurin added, “Apparently Steve runs the nicest place to work in British TV, which worries me about the state of the UK industry. Still, he and his team say they are enormously talented, so why not believe them? Plus, we have come up with some killer formats together, so there’s that.”