EXCLUSIVE: The creator of Canadian smash Letterkenny has struck a multi-year content deal with streamer Crave and New Metric Media that Crave’s programing boss says is a first of its kind.
With Letterkenny’s 12th and final season dropping on Boxing Day, Jared Keeso will subsequently make 49 episodes of Letterkenny spin-offs including Shoresy and other potential shows across several years.
Unveiling the news to Deadline, Crave VP Content Development & Programming Justin Stockman said “this is probably the only deal that has ever been done like this in Canada.” The deal does not prevent Keeso from making shows for other platforms, eschewing the golden handcuffs approach taken by some of the major Hollywood players.
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“There is not a lot of pre-committing in Canadian content so this is pretty unique but shows our belief in Jared and the show, and in other shows that don’t exist yet,” added Stockman. “This is our way of ensuring he works with us as much as possible without us doing a Hollywood handcuff deal.”
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Based in a fictional Ontario town with a large Irish-Canadian rural community, Letterkenny, which is created by and stars Keeso as Wayne and Shoresy and streams on Hulu in the U.S., launched seven years ago and has won numerous awards. New Metric just bought back the distribution rights, licensing to Netflix in several European territories. Projects that emerge from the Keeso pact will be distributed by Crave-owner Bell Media, while New Metric Media remains exclusive sales agent.
The deal incorporates pre-existing Letterkenny spin-off Shoresy and will see around 18 episodes of that show plus others produced per year, although Stockman said this target remains “loose.” “We are conscious that Crave subscribers love Letterkenny and want to make sure there is a wheel with this stuff so we can say ‘stick with us’.”
The move is a natural next step following the multi-season Letterkenny deal struck in 2019, which Stockman said was “pretty revolutionary at the time.”
“We knew Jared felt Letterkenny was running out of steam so figured out this amazing way to take it forward,” he added. “We see him as amazing Canadian talent and want to make sure that Crave is his home.”
Letterkenny has formed an integral part of Crave’s originals strategy over the past few years, one that has steadily been shaping up with shows such as Bria Mack Gets a Life (also from New Metric) and Jasmeet Singh Raina’s Late Bloomer, along with prestige dramas including upcoming awards hopeful Little Bird. Bell Media currently has more than 200 original productions underway, with more than 100 different Canadian production companies across its English and French business, many of which are for Crave. Crave has also been playing in the global co-productions game of late, partnering with Norway’s NRK on Leonard Cohen drama So Long, Marianne, which has just been picked up by ITVX.
Crave originals are complemented by “core” output deals with the likes of HBO, Sony and the Drag Race franchise, explained Stockman, although these output pacts have been hit by the recent U.S. labor strikes slowing down the well of American content. In October, Crave struck a deal with Fox that will see the pair forge shows for Fox in the U.S. and Bell platformsCTVand streamerCravein Canada, with nascent sales houseFox Entertainment Global(FEG) handling international sales.
“Canadians gravitate towards Hollywood content but we also need to see ourselves [on screen] at the same time,” added Stockman. “That is what we want to do with Crave, give people the best of both worlds. We are saying to our audiences that they can have Succession and White Lotus but also something that represents themselves.”
After a tumultuous year for global streaming, Crave has been a rare example of an SVoD turning a profit, Stockman went on to say.
While “a lot of the streamers spent more than they would ever make,” he said Crave had achieved this via a measured approach and by taking advantage of being part of a large media company that incorporates linear channels and distribution. The platform is also on track to break its streaming record this year, it said.
Stockman criticizes streamers
The streamers are now regulated in Canada under the Online Streaming Act and these laws are slowly starting to take shape. Stockman said now is a “pivotal moment” for the regulation, which will include quotas.
He criticized the U.S. streamers for “contributing nothing to Canada as far as Canadian content” is concerned even after Netflix launched an office in the nation.
“They have brought jobs but were going to bring those jobs anyway because in Canada you get the benefit of a low dollar and tax credits,” he added.
“If Netflix hadn’t launched in Canada they would still be producing here. The Canadian office hasn’t really commissioned anything. They are in a press release game, issuing lots of press releases about things in development and sponsoring events but not really doing anything.”
Stockman urged the Canadian regulator to make sure the law incentivizes local content but doesn’t “allow ways [the streamers] can work around the rules, take money out the system and not contribute back in.”
“Canada has to remain protected in some way or we won’t exist as a culture,” he said. “It’s very hard when you’re next to the States. Hollywood is a big machine.”
The Keeso deal was negotiated by Bell’s Carlyn Klebuc, Dianne Vernon and Stockman; New Metric Media’s Mark Montefiore and Jayme Alter (Dentons LLC); and Keeso’s representatives Trina Allen (Play Management), Gordon Gilbertson (Gilbertson Entertainment) and Jeffrey Hynick (Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer).
