Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook Inks Development Pact With Telepool (EXCLUSIVE)
By Leo Barraclough
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s new media venture, Westbrook Inc., has signed a co-development agreement for feature films, television shows and digital entertainment formats with German-based film and TV company Telepool. The move follows the acquisition of last year by Smith and Elysian Fields, a Zurich-based investment company.
Westbrook, launched this year by Smith, Pinkett Smith, Miguel Melendez and Kosaku Yada, is a holding company formed to house the Smith family’s global content and commerce businesses. Westbrook houses both newly launched and previously existing entities, including Overbrook Entertainment, Red Table Talk Enterprises, Westbrook Studios, Westbrook Media, the digital content studio, social media management and creative brand incubator, and direct-to-consumer business Good Goods.
Telepool ranks among Germany’s leading film and TV distributors and owns a global sales company, Global Screen, with more than 50 years of operating history.
The development pact kicks off with three premium film and TV projects that will cover tentpole action, thriller and global sports categories. The projects are among the first that Westbrook Inc. will bring to market.
“We wanted these first projects to be representative of the kind of exciting and global entertainment that we bring to the world,” said Yada, the CEO of Westbrook Inc. “We are particularly excited that we can both support best-in-class creatives and can also showcase the power of our interconnected and strategic relationship with Telepool for distribution.”
André Druskeit, CEO of Telepool, said: “Our unique agreement allows us the opportunity to partner in multiple ways on these exciting projects and is a critical step in Telepool’s long-term strategy to work and benefit across the entire content value chain.
“We believe that having preferential access to this kind of premium content and the close relationship we have with our shareholders gives us a unique position in the German and international market.”
