Sister Group Strikes Partnership With Branded Entertainment Company Common Interest, Makes Minority Investment

Sister Group, Jane Featherstone and Elisabeth Murdoch‘s ever-growing transatlantic powerhouse, has entered the branded entertainment business by forging a strategic partnership with London-based company Common Interest, in which it has also taken a minority investment. The partnership with Common Interest, the communications and entertainment group founded by Anthony Freedman, brings together what it describes as “brand creativity, entertainment execution and access to world-class production talent.” The two groups are already collaborating on projects with the goal of building a slate of projects that are connected with brand partners from the very start. Popular on Variety Founded in September 2023, Common Interest now spans brand experience, entertainment-led communications, cultural intelligence and IP development. The group currently numbers eight companies: 21st Century Brand, Amplify, Baby Teeth, CultureLab, Knock Three Times, Otherway, Seed and Wonder. Baby Teeth, the creative company building entertainment and IP for brands and talent, recently created and produced “Finding Jamie,” a microdrama series for the Jamie Oliver Group in partnership with Life360. “We immediately found a cultural and creative kinship with Anthony and the exceptionally talented teams he has assembled across Common Interest,” said Murdoch and Featherstone. “Their deep commitment to entertainment and brand strategies that people actually care about, mirrors the values of creative excellence, authorship and risk-taking intrinsic to Sister. We’re not just aligned on paper, but underway on some great ideas where the potency of that combination is very apparent.” The partnership comes at moment the two companies describe as “structural change,” with brands now welcomed into the entertainment industry conversation from the early stages of development and as audiences increasingly “embrace brand-led content and entertainment across a variety of formats.” “Advertising is looking for new ways to reach audiences, and entertainment has never been more open to working with brands as a genuine creative partner,” said Freedman, Founder and CEO of Common Interest. “Each needs what the other has, and the appetite for that is already visible, from Barbie to LEGO to Kraft Heinz’s new partnership with Disney. This partnership is more than a meeting of minds, it’s a real commitment from both sides, to prove that brands can be part of shaping entertainment without compromising on what audiences love.” The Sister Group currently spans companies across TV and film (Sister Pictures, Dorothy St Pictures, Yes Yes Media, Locksmith Animation, South of the River, Unanimous Media), podcasting (Campside Media), publishing (Zando, AWA), music and live experiences (KOKO), and digital-first production (After Party Studios). The Group recently announced a partnership with journalist and broadcaster Amol Rajan as the producer and distributor of his new Creator Economy venture. The deal with Common Interest was managed by Chris Fry, COO and CFO, Sister Group and Common Interest group’s chief financial and operating officer Deepa Shah.