Editor

Emmy Award-winning Amplify Pictures has announced a production and financing partnership with multiple Tony Award-winning Broadway producing team, Eric Kuhn and Tre’ Scott’s recently formed Folk Productions. The announcement came today from Amplify’s Joe Lewis, CEO of the independent content studio behind HBO’s Emmy-winning series “100 Foot Wave.” The new collaboration brings together both organizations’ extensive experience in producing and financing creative properties in television and live entertainment. The partners previously collaborated as co-producers on the 2022 Broadway production of A Strange Loop, for which Lewis, Kuhn and Scott received a Tony Award for Best New Original Musical. Kuhn has also received Tony Awards as a co-producer on The Inheritance and the 2019 revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma!

The partnership marks the significant expansion of Amplify Pictures’ theater production division as the company looks to build on their successful track record of award-winning TV projects and a commitment to bring innovative and commercial content with crossover ability between stage and other mediums. Folk Productions is a new creative studio setting out to usher in the next era of storytellers, both on stage and backstage. Together, the organizations will identify original live productions to be produced or financed.

“This is an exciting moment for theater makers who have something to say that’s impactful and wildly creative,” said Joe Lewis. “The live entertainment landscape is changing and Eric and Tre’ have a pulse on where that world and theater are going. We’re excited to partner with Folk Productions to bring the next generation of globally commercial theater IP to life, and expand the appeal of that IP into television and other mediums.”

“Joe has a long history of bridging talent and ideas across the mediums of entertainment and because of this his work continues to have incredible cultural impact” noted Kuhn and Scott. “Folk Productions is thrilled to partner with Amplify Pictures to continue bringing new and original voices to the stage in exciting ways for audiences and artists.

Amplify Pictures has separately been named as co-producers on “Gutenberg! The Musical!,” starring Tony Award nominees and Grammy award-winners, Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells. “Gutenberg! The Musical!” is the story of a pair of aspiring playwrights who perform a backers’ audition for their new project – a big, splashy musical about printing press inventor, Johannes Gutenberg. The production began previews on September 15 at Broadway’s James Earl Jones Theatre with impressive box office numbers and a sold out show on the second night. The show’s official opening night is October 12, followed by a strictly limited 20-week engagement through January 28, 2024.

“Gutenberg! The Musical!” is produced on Broadway by Ambassador Theatre Group Productions, Patrick Catullo, Bad Robot Live, Seth A. Goldstein, Isaac Robert Hurwitz, Kristin Caskey and Mike Isaacson. The production is directed by Alex Timbers, who took home the Tony Award in 2021 for his work on “Moulin Rouge! The Musical,” and written by Tony and Emmy-nominated writers, Anthony King and Scott Brown.  Lewis will co-produce alongside Dan Powell, Emmy and Peabody winning co-creator and Executive Producer of Comedy Central’s “Inside Amy Schumer,” and EP/Director of Hulu’s hit series, “Life & Beth.”

“Gutenberg! The Musical! is the rare show that combines great art with incredible comedy to deliver a truly unique event,”  said Lewis. “The opportunity to take creative leaps and push the limits of the medium keep bringing me back to theater and I’m thrilled to be part of the ‘Gutenberg’ journey.”

Amplify Pictures produces the HBO hit series 100 Foot Wave, which recently picked up six Emmy nominations for its second season, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series. 100 Foot Wave is HBO’s most nominated documentary project, series or film of this year. The first season won an Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program, as well as a PGA Award for Outstanding Sports Program.  HBO recently announced it has renewed the big wave docuseries for a third season.

Folk Productions is a creative studio based in New York City and London. Folk Productions is on a mission to usher in a new era for artists, innovators, and culture drivers. The company’s first production is Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, starring Aubrey Plaza and Christopher Abbott, opening Off-Broadway in November 2023.

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ABOUT AMPLIFY PICTURES

Amplify Pictures is the pioneering independent studio that develops, finances and produces award-winning, commercially successful scripted series, documentary projects and theatrical productions, including HBO’s Emmy-winning 100 Foot Wave. Founded in 2018 by Emmy, Tony and Golden Globe-winning producer and Amazon Studios co-founder Joe Lewis (Fleabag, Transparent), Amplify Pictures is helmed by CEO Lewis alongside founding partners Rachel Eggebeen, Chief Content Officer, and Colin King Miller, Chief Operating Officer.

Their unique business model focuses on investing in diverse, creator-driven, independently produced series and providing a platform for innovative, original global franchises. By partnering with creators and sharing in the project’s success - as well as the willingness to greenlight a show without a distributor or broadcast partner - the company is revolutionizing the traditional television process. With offices in Los Angeles and Amsterdam, Amplify Pictures is capitalizing on the demand for global content.

The second season of Amplify Pictures’ hit series 100 Foot Wave recently received six Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series, making it HBO’s most nominated documentary project, series or film, this year. The first season of 100 Foot Wave won an Emmy for Outstanding Cinematography for a Nonfiction Program as well as a PGA Award for Outstanding Sports Program.  HBO recently announced it has renewed the big wave docuseries for a third season.

For more information, please visit https://amplifypics.com/

ABOUT FOLK PRODUCTIONS:

Folk Productions is a creative studio partnering with technology platforms and brands to usher in a new era for artists, innovators, and culture drivers. Founded by former media and technology executives Eric Kuhn and Tre’ Scott, Folk Productions creates, finances, and licenses properties across live entertainment. The company is a co-producer of Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, starring Aubrey Plaza and Christopher Abbott, opening Off-Broadway in November 2023.

Folk Productions is a division of Folk Media Group. Folk Media Group is a private investment firm and creative studio disrupting the status quo of content creation and production.

For more information, please visit www.folkmediagroup.com.