| Founded | 1999 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Thom Beers |
Key people | Jeff Hasler (president) |
| Products | Television series |
| Owner | Bertelsmann |
| Parent | Fremantle North America |
| Website | originalproductions |
Original Productions, LLC is a television production company based in Burbank, California. It was founded in 1999 by Thom Beers.[1][2]
It is best known for producing reality television shows for the Discovery Channel but has more recently produced shows for other networks such as History, truTV, and Spike.
Some of its most popular shows are Deadliest Catch, Ice Road Truckers, Ax Men, and 1000 Ways to Die. Its earlier hit was Monster Garage.
Thom Beers founded Original Productions in 1999, when Discovery asked him to produce the two-hour special Extreme Alaska.[1]
On February 19, 2009, FremantleMedia acquired 75% of Original Productions for $50 million.[3][1][4]
On June 14, 2012, Beers launched a digital platform Original Productions Entertainment Networks that will feature his library.[5] Philip D. Segal and Gayle Gilman were tapped to run the new venture.[5] Later on August 29, 2012, Beers was promoted as CEO of FremantleMedia North America.[6]