Shopify launches TV and film production studio focused on entrepreneurs

E-commerce company Shopify has launched Shopify Studios, a full-service television and film content development and production house that will focus on the stories of entrepreneurs.

Shopify (NYSE: SHOP), which has more than 600,000 merchants who use its services in designing and managing their businesses, said the division will be “dedicated to inspiring entrepreneurship through entertaining, thought-provoking storytelling.”

Shopify Studios will partner with production companies to develop, produce and finance an array of projects for streaming platforms and traditional networks.

The company said it already has deals with Anonymous Content, Spoke Studios (part of Brent Montgomery’s Wheelhouse Entertainment), and Saville Productions, the production company behind Werner Herzog’s “Lo and Behold: Reveries of a Connected World “and “From One Second to the Next,” to develop entrepreneur-focused docu-series and feature-length documentaries.

“Behind every product, system, and modern convenience that makes the world turn is an entrepreneur with an idea,” Shopify Studios head Jason Badal said in a statement. “The entrepreneurial mindset has fueled discoveries, built industries, and led to every significant innovation that’s shaped our society. We believe that spirit is inherent and present among us all, whether we realize it or not, and Shopify Studios’ content aims to inspire the next wave of creators and iconoclasts to embrace and manifest the possibilities before them.”

“Shopify is leading a path of innovation for how companies approach entertainment content, and we are very excited to partner with them to inspire entrepreneurship through storytelling,” said Saville Productions founder and Executive Producer Rupert Maconick. “Our mission has always been to create content that provides true entertainment value, and Shopify Studios’ commitment to developing narratives that are thought-provoking and entertain viewers makes it a perfect synergy.”

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