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Thunderbird is taking on entertainment industry heavyweights as consumers search for new content

Published: 15:15 20 Sep 2019 EDT

Snapshot

The growing Canadian media company recently announced its largest-ever lineup of programs for traditional broadcasters and streaming giants alike

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  • Produces award-winning, high-quality content with a track record of robust viewership with 17 television programs currently in various stages of production
  • Repeatable and scalable business model with proven earnings history
  • Experienced management team in the media and entertainment sector and predominant board

What Thunderbird Entertainment does:

Thunderbird Entertainment Group (CVE:TBRD) is building global entertainment brands for the world’s biggest broadcasters and streaming giants.

The Vancouver-based global multi-platform entertainment company produces award-winning scripted, unscripted and animated programming for the world’s leading digital platforms, as well as Canadian and international broadcasters such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Disney.

Its underlying ethos is to make the world a better place, according to its CEO Jennifer Twiner McCarron.

Through its three divisions: Kids and Family, Factual and Scripted, Thunderbird also has a division based in the United Kingdom dedicated to establishing partnerships with production companies to develop the company’s intellectual property.

The company is behind popular titles such as ‘The Last Kids on Earth,’ ‘$ave My Reno,’ ‘Highway Thru Hell’ and the award-winning CBC sitcom ‘Kim’s Convenience.’

Thunderbird’s executive team and board of directors reads like a who’s who of the Canadian entertainment industry. CEO Twiner McCarron is a creative at heart, an Emmy-award winner and one of the leading women in the animation sector.

Its board is stacked with names like film mogul and philanthropist Frank Giustra, noted investor Frank Holmes and Paul Sparkes, a former executive at CTVglobemedia (now Bell Media).

With around 47 million shares outstanding and a C$64 million market capitalization, the Canadian company is poised to take on entertainment industry heavyweights like Lionsgate and Entertainment One as consumers search for new content.

How is it doing:

The company swung to a profit in March 2019, bringing in revenue of C$21.9 million, up from C$12.1 million in the year-ago quarter. Net income clocked in at C$1.9 million after the company lost C$927,000 the year before.

In September, Thunderbird announced its largest-ever fall program lineup. The new line-up is a result of the first phase of a strategic global development plan that the company initiated nearly 18 months ago.

Production on the second season of acclaimed documentary series ‘Queen of the Oil Patch’ is underway in Fort McMurray, Alberta and the Mikisew Cree First Nation. Season Two will air in fall 2020 with an eight-episode run.

In late September the company announced a new partnership between Atomic Cartoons, Cyber Group Studios and Outright Games to produce a video game based on the Thunderbird-produced Netflix series ‘The Last Kids on Earth,’ based on Max Brallier’s bestselling books.

The game is anticipated to launch in 2021 on consoles and PC.

Inflection points:

  • Continued buildout of content library across all three verticals
  • Invested funds in developing 25 additional titles
  • Acquiring world-class intellectual property
  • Toys, merchandising and gaming opportunities on owned IP

What the CEO says:

“There’s never been a better time to be in content creation, especially quality content creation,” CEO Jennifer Twiner McCarron told Proactive.

“There are so many places to sell your content to now, be it in IP as an owner or a service. It’s a very healthy business- if anything, we have to make sure to maintain that quality and reputation and integrity with what we have on our plate.

McCarron said that Thunderbird has a “healthy mix” of working with traditional broadcasters and streamers.

“As content continues to explode, people will make content work for them,” McCarron said. “It’s going to be something that you can cater and make a personalized experience. We’re always ahead of how people are consuming content.”

Contact Angela at angela@proactiveinvestors.com

Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas

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