CORE Media Acquires Intellectual Property Corp., Relaunches as Industrial Media

By Joe Otterson

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – CORE Media Group has acquired the television production company The Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC).

With the acquisition, CORE is immediately relaunching as Industrial Media. Eli Holzman will continue in his role as CEO of IPC, while also becoming CEO of Industrial Media. Holzman will lead Industrial Media with plans to grow both organically and through strategic acquisitions and investments. 19 Entertainment, Sharp Entertainment, B-17 Entertainment, and B-17’s newly formed digital studio, Thumb Candy, along with the newly acquired IPC, will continue to operate independently, developing and producing for traditional network and cable entities as well as the burgeoning digital and SVOD marketplace. IPC’s president and co-founder, Aaron Saidman, will join Holzman at Industrial Media as its president, while also remaining in his current capacity as president of IPC.

Industrial Media will have more than 40 shows on over 20 networks with its launch, including “American Idol” for ABC and its format versions around the world, “So You Think You Can Dance” for Fox, “The Wall” for NBC, the “90 Day Fiancé” franchise for TLC, and “Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath” for A&E.

CORE is owned by majority shareholder Crestview Partners, Tennenbaum Capital Partners, and United Talent Agency. CORE has been led by Executive Chairman Dennis Miller, who will remain as Chairman of Industrial Media.

“Our partners at Crestview, Tennenbaum and UTA, and the CORE management team, especially Dennis Miller and CFO Scott Frosch, and UTA CEO Jeremy Zimmer, have done a brilliant job re-fashioning their assets into a creative, nimble, powerfully resourced studio of the future,” said Holzman. “Adding IPC to this group and taking advantage of their extraordinary access to talent and capital is a marvelous opportunity for Aaron and me. Continuing to lead IPC now alongside the brilliant producers at the group companies will be a privilege. In this booming content marketplace, there has never been a greater need for a supplier like Industrial Media that can support exceptional filmmakers while delivering consistently and at the highest quality level for our buyers.”

(Pictured: Eli Holzman)