Tom Forman’s company has acquired Jenny Daly’s T Group Productions, with the latter merging into Critical Content and creating a larger independent nonfiction studio. As part of the deal, Daly will become president of Critical Content Studios in a newly formed role in which she will oversee day-to-day management of development and production of the combined slates. Critical Content founder and CEO Forman will expand his purview to focus on growth opportunities, developing formats for streaming and broadcast platforms and international expansion.
T Group’s assets and employees will be combined into Critical Content. The news comes after Critical Content trimmed its workforce by 35 percent as part of a February reorganization. The capital from the workforce layoffs was earmarked for expansion.
“Jenny is a dynamic leader and talented producer, and I am thrilled to join forces with her. For two decades we’ve been friends and competitors and now we’ll be unstoppable as teammates. Merging T Group into Critical Content is a win for everyone, especially our clients, offering them more capability, more creativity, and more fun,” Forman said Tuesday in a statement.
Since launching in 2010, Daly’s T Group has created and sold more than 50 series, pilots and presentations, including E!’s Very Cavalleri; truTV’s Storage Hunters and Container Wars; History’s Invention USA; MTV’s House of Food; and Pop’s scripted comedy Return of the Mac. Before launching T Group, Daly was an unscripted executive producer and vp development at E!, where her credits included The Simple Life.
“Having the chance to join forces with Critical Content and combine our resources to capitalize on new ventures in an incredibly dynamic market has created an unparalleled opportunity for us,” said Daly. “I am thrilled to work with Tom and his team to build a top-tier slate with the freedom to create and build content and business models on a much larger scale.”
Critical Content was rebranded in 2016 after it was spun off from beleaguered parent company Relativity Media’s Relativity TV. Forman remained at the helm of the company, which launched with $75 million in capital from an investor group led by Anchorage Capital Group. The purchase of Relativity Media’s TV assets took place in October 2015. The company’s slate included MTV’s Catfish and History’s The Woodsmen, among others. Critical Content has more than a dozen overall deals with producers including John Legend and Howie Mandel.
