Shari Redstone was not in the market for another studio gig. But the opportunity to invest in and join the board of Israel’s fast-growing Sipur production company was an opportunity she could not pass up — even as she’s still catching her breath from the long slog of selling Paramount Global to Skydance Media for $8 billion.
Redstone has been named chair of Sipur, which is based in Tel Aviv and has grown rapidly since it was founded in 2019 by Emilio Schenker, who is CEO and Gideon Tadmor, who serves as business leader. Redstone tells Variety exclusively that Sipur (which means “story” in Hebrew) will be a hands-on investment for her as she works to advance its mission of building a global production powerhouse.
Redstone and Schenker met last year when Paramount picked up distribution rights to Sipur’s documentary “We Will Dance Again,” which chronicled the devastation of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terrorist attack Israel’s Nova music festival.
“The more I got to know [Schenker], the more I got to meet his team and understand what it was that he was doing, the more excited I got about this opportunity,” Redstone says.
“To be honest, I was not looking to get involved in another business. I was really looking to focus on my foundation and the work that I’m doing. But the reality is, there is real consistency between the work that he is doing in the work that I am doing in my foundation, they create great content. They have a phenomenal team, they have a differentiated business model, and they have a vision to be the first international production studio out of Israel,” Redstone says. “And it’s not just a vision. It’s something they’re already executing on and have achieved success with. So it just became very exciting to me. I think it’s a super opportunity.”
Sipur has worked with Peter Chernin’s North Road Co. on such international series as “Noa,” “Heart of a Killer,” and the Netflix drama “Bad Boy.” It also produced this year’s documentary “Are We Good,” about comedian Marc Maron, and is at work on the horror pic “Buddy” starring Cristin Milioti.
Sipur’s business model of production high-end shows on modest budgets with international partners has allowed the company to prosper even as demand for content cools off from its pre-pandemic Peak TV peak. Schenker’s business acumen was key to landing Redstone’s involvement.
“The Hollywood system is broken in many ways,” Schenker tells Variety. “We, as a very young studio with lots of ambition, we offer a solution. We are not the solution, but we offer a solution. Because the whole meaning of a studio is to finance projects, to be the owner of IP, to monetize on that IP, to build the library and build value to the company with the IP that you own.”
Schenker has kept this laser focus from day one. To do that, he has raised outside capital from private sources. Sipur also launched with a first-look deal with MGM Television.
“What we did from day one was to have equity money into projects that need that equity, that need that money in order to be, to be to be realized, and then eventually build the value of that studio according to IP that can be exploited in the international market,” he says. “From her Paramount perspective, to own IP, you need a lot of money. When she saw that we can do that, we can have very, very, very interesting wins with a fraction of a fraction of the investment that that an American studio needs to do, she really liked that.”
Redstone’s involvement will raise the profile of Sipur on the global stage. “Shari’s leading position in the entertainment and media industry and her vast experience and passion will enable Sipur to shape its exciting new chapter and become a unique significant global studio,” Tadmor said.
More to come