LOS ANGELES, NEW YORK, & TEL AVIV – Candle Media (“Candle”), the next-generation media company run by leading entertainment executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs and backed by investment capital from Blackstone, today announced it has acquired Faraway Road Productions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded by Lior Raz & Avi Issacharoff, the creators of FAUDA and Hit & Run, Faraway Road Productions is a global media and entertainment company delivering high-impact, original stories to audiences around the world. Season Four of FAUDA is set to premiere later this year on Israel’s YES TV and streaming worldwide on Netflix. Other current development projects include the film Siege of Bethlehem – to be directed by Antoine Fuqua – and a non-scripted spy thriller for Showtime with director Greg Barker.
Kevin Mayer & Tom Staggs, Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs of Candle, said: “Lior and Avi are world-class storytellers who produce exhilarating content that strikes a chord globally with audiences across cultures and languages. They are exactly the type of partners we and Blackstone are looking to invest behind – and we are excited to work with them to further accelerate Faraway Road’s growth trajectory.”
Joe Baratta, Global Head of Private Equity at Blackstone, and David Kestnbaum, a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone, said: “We are proud to back Lior and Avi, who stand for the highest standards of quality in international media and entertainment. Content creation is one of our highest-conviction investment themes, and we believe that elite talent like the Faraway Road team is exceptionally well positioned to thrive in today’s increasingly global, digital media environment.”
Lior Raz & Avi Issacharoff Co-CEO’s of Faraway Road Productions said: “Faraway was founded to bring authentic and engaging international stories to global audiences. Partnering with Kevin, Tom, Blackstone and the unbelievable creators that are part of the Candle family will allow us to significantly accelerate that, while participating in creating the next-generation media company that puts creators first.”
About Candle Media
Candle is an independent, creator-friendly home for cutting-edge, high-quality, category-defining brands and franchises that is built for the digital age. By bringing together elite talent operating at the intersection of content, community, and commerce, it helps position leading entertainment businesses for accelerated, sustainable growth in the current market and beyond. The company has acquired Hello Sunshine, the mission-driven media company that puts women at the center of every story it creates, founded by Reese Witherspoon; and Moonbug Entertainment Ltd., the digital-first, global children’s entertainment company behind highly popular shows such as CoComelon, Blippi, Little Baby Bum; as well as made a strategic minority investment in Westbrook Inc., the media company founded by Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith, Miguel Melendez and Ko Yada, focused on empowering artists to tell stories that connect the world. Candle is run by its Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs, leading entertainment executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, and backed by investment capital from funds managed by Blackstone’s flagship private equity business.
About Blackstone
Blackstone is the world’s largest alternative asset manager. We seek to create positive economic impact and long-term value for our investors, the companies we invest in, and the communities in which we work. We do this by using extraordinary people and flexible capital to help companies solve problems. Our $731 billion in assets under management include investment vehicles focused on private equity, real estate, public debt and equity, life sciences, growth equity, opportunistic, non-investment grade credit, real assets and secondary funds, all on a global basis. Further information is available at www.blackstone.com. Follow Blackstone on Twitter @Blackstone.
About Faraway Road Productions
Founded and led by award-winning creator, writer and actor Lior Raz and creator, writer and award-winning journalist Avi Issacharoff, Faraway Road is a global media entertainment company developing and producing bold, high-impact and engaging original content. In addition to creating original material, the duo and their team are trusted with bringing to screen many deeply personal experiences from authentic voices around the world. They give a platform to these voices and adapt them into sophisticated, character-driven stories that wouldn’t be told otherwise. Faraway Road oversees each of their projects from conception to production and release, developing film and television series for the US, Israeli and international markets.
Faraway Road is best known for creating and producing the critically acclaimed series FAUDA, a political thriller in which Raz also stars, based on his and Issacharoff’s time serving in the Israeli Defense Force’s special forces unit. The series is one of the biggest successes in Israeli television, with all three seasons available for streaming on Netflix and the fourth season in production. Also, airing on Netflix is the action thriller series HIT & RUN starring Raz and Sanaa Lathan, which Issacharoff and Raz co-created with the award-winning team behind THE KILLING. Upcoming for Faraway Road is a robust slate of film and television projects in various stages of development.
Media Contact
Blackstone
Matt Anderson
518-248-7310
Matthew.Anderson@Blackstone.com
