Webedia Acquires Majority Stake In LA-based Movie Pilot/Super News

LOS ANGELES and PARIS, Dec. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Publishing group Webedia has acquired the majority stake in LA-based social publisher and video production company Movie Pilot, and its distributed video channel for nerd culture, Super News.  

Movie Pilot and Super News will become part of Webedia Productions' global activities, including all premium content production studios, from feature film production to video game development, and scripted or unscripted short and long form video content. Movie Pilot's parent company Creators Media will be absorbed with the acquisition.

In September 2015, Webedia had already participated in Movie Pilot's Series B financing round of 16M USD, becoming the lead investor of the company and its two brands for millennial entertainment fans: Movie Pilot, a social publisher and video production company focusing on entertainment content, with a reach of over 30 million across its social channels. And Super News, a distributed TV channel for nerd culture, broadcasting every day on Facebook and Instagram - and in 2018 also on other networks such as Twitter, Twitch and YouTube.

The acquisition comes with a substantial investment into Movie Pilot's and Super News' live studio and post production facilities, to develop their video and social content production activity. "Over the last year we have become more of a fan-centric, digital production studio for our partners. We're able to bring a ton of experience with content production to the table, as well as the ability to distribute that content to our network of fans across social platforms," explains co-founder Jon Handschin.

Movie Pilot and Super News partner with movie studios like Warner Bros and 20th Century Fox, as well as streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu to promote their new movies and TV shows with custom video content and shoulder content formats on various digital platforms. In 2017, they have produced live shows, custom content and social video series for partners like Hulu, Netflix, Sony Home Entertainment, Paramount, BBC America, Lionsgate and Focus Features.

"We are very happy to continue and strengthen our partnership with Webedia - the same company that bought our German business back in 2014 and became our lead investor of the US business in 2015," says Tobi Bauckhage, co-founder of Movie Pilot.

"Webedia is going to invest heavily into its production activities within the next years and will move more significantly into the US market - with a bigger presence and further acquisitions," says Nicolas John, who oversees Webedia's Productions' activities in the U.S. "We've known the Movie Pilot / Super News founders for a long time and we are very happy to have them now fully on board for Webedia's US expansion."

Earlier this year, Webedia announced the acquisition of the majority stake of gaming influencer network 3Blackdot. The Group is now active in over 10 countries and runs some of the biggest entertainment, gaming and lifestyle websites and YouTube channels in the United States, France, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Middle East. Their brands and influencer network (including global influencer mega stars like Vanoss or elrubiusOMG) reach 180M monthly uniques on their websites* and video channels, and generate over 3.5Bn monthly video views on YouTube. Further substantial investments in the US are planned for next year.

*comScore, worldwide MMX custom measurement, April 2017

About Webedia
Since 2007, Webedia has been targeting a passionate audience by building a global network of unique talents, media brands, events and services within the entertainment and recreation industries. With more than 50 sites worldwide under their wing (AlloCiné, Purepeople, Puretrend, Jeuxvideo.com, Gamestar, 3DJuegos, 750g, Tudo Gostoso, Minha Vida, EasyVoyage...), and some of the most influential trendsetters on social media (El Rubius, Vanoss, Cyprien, Squeezie, Norman, Natoo, Sananas, Kéfera...), the group attracts more than 177 million unique visitors (comScore, april 2017) each month on all devices. Webedia guides its clients through the process of defining and achieving their digital marketing strategies, offering solutions to their advertising, content marketing and e-commerce needs. Webedia joined the French investment company Fimalac in May 2013, under the leadership of Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière.

About Movie Pilot
Movie Pilot is a LA-based social publisher and distribution network for entertainment content, followed by over 30 million millennial entertainment fans on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

About Super News
Super News is a distributed TV channel for nerd culture, broadcasting live every day to a loyal audience of entertainment and gaming fans.

SOURCE Movie Pilot