MGM Television Strikes Deal With Imax Doc Producer K2 Studios, Will Co-Produce 8 Non-Fiction Series

EXCLUSIVE: MGM Television is cementing its move into premium factual programming with a new partnership with Imax documentary producer and distributor K2 Studios.

The Hollywood studio will co-produce eight premium documentary TV series with K2, which specializes in producing nature, wildlife, science and adventure programming.

The deal also includes distribution of K2 library content and a first-look deal for new K2 content.

The partnership comes after MGM revealed its push into factual documentaries and specials last year with a new division based out of London run by EVP Richard Bedser.

The first K2 release of the MGM partnership will be Sam Neill-narrated Sea Lions: Life By A Whisker, which will continue its rollout this summer as theaters reopen post-Covid.

K2 Studios President Mark Kresser will oversee all production and distribution for Imax/giant-screen markets and will executive produce the initial eight TV series in partnership with David Gross’s Definition Studios, which will also handle post-production in Australia.  Ryan Kresser, co-founder and longtime CEO of cable television network Havoc Television, will head up K2’s newly expanded TV division, while K2 founder and CEO Bob Kresser will continue to focus on Giant Screen film development.

Starting with Adventures in Wild California in 2000, K2 has executive produced, produced or distributed 16 titles for Imax and other Giant Screen theaters worldwide including docs Fighter Pilot and Patrick Stewart-narrated Journey to Space.

K2 was represented in the transaction by Aaron Meyerson, Media Specialist at Qualia Legacy Advisors and MGM’s President of Television Operations Brian Edwards negotiated the deal on behalf of the studio.

“From the first time I watched a K2 film, I was determined to get in business with them. Their experience in Imax and other Giant Screen formats is unparalleled,” said Barry Poznick, MGM’s President of Unscripted & Alternative Television and Orion Television. “MGM has long wanted to focus on the factual documentary space and this is the perfect partnership to help grow our new division. We’re excited for all of the possibilities that lay ahead.”

K2 Studios President Mark Kresser added, “We are thrilled to join forces with MGM, arguably the most storied studio in Hollywood, with an unmatched history of success for nearly 100 years in both film and television.”