TEXAS CREW PRODUCTIONS INKS FIRST-LOOK CO-PRODUCTION PARTNERSHIP WITH TEXAS-BASED V1 PRODUCTIONS
Tuesday January 17th, 202, Fort Worth, Texas – Emmy®Award-winning Texas Crew Productions, part of Asylum Entertainment Group, today announced a first-look co-production partnership with W. Hulsey Smith’s Fort Worth, Texas-based V1 Productions.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary and renowned for its premium unscripted documentaries, series and specials with a focus on true crime, sports, music and home renovation, Texas Crew (30 for 30 Brian and the Boz, the NAACP Image Award-winning documentary The 44th President: In His Own Words, 1883: The Road West, How I Caught My Killer, Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins) is joining forces with V1 to amplify its slate of unscripted programming and leverage V1’s impressive production framework.
V1 is a premier full-service, story-based media house versed in television, film, and live productions, and is recognized for capturing real stories about the human spirit boasting titles such as the three-season aviation docuseries Straight and Level, currently on Amazon Prime Video, the most-watched lifestyle aviation program in the 21st century.
Founded in 2019 by W. Hulsey Smith and Olive Chinarian, V1’s comprehensive infrastructure, built by filmmakers for filmmakers, meets the rapidly evolving needs of the industry. Producing content across North America, V1’s high-tech mobile editing bays, 53-foot camera tractor-trailers, EP trailers, and mobile screening facilities, enables V1 to deliver the exceptional production value its network partners rely upon. As one of Texas ’largest full-service post production houses, with facilities in Fort Worth and Dallas, V1 offers four state-of-the-art editing bays, sound design suite, sound editing, picture editing, mastering suite, and complete film and video library catalog and archive services. Additional world-class capabilities include various editing platforms, immersive sound formats, 4K/HD HDR/SDR mastering, and a 20,000 sq. ft. hangar studio located at easily accessible Dallas Love Field, complete with broadband connectivity between remote production sites, studios, stages, sound editorial, picture editorial and mastering suites.
Texas Crew and V1 have already joined forces and sold an unannounced project to a premium streaming platform that is currently in pre-production. Building on that momentum, V1 is on pace to bring over three dozen fully baked projects to market in the first half of 2023 with its reps at UTA and Cartel Entertainment.
“Access to unique worlds is crucial – especially in the unscripted content space – so we are eager to broaden our capabilities through our collaboration with Hulsey and his team at V1 Productions,” says David Karabinas, CEO of Texas Crew Productions. “Hulsey’s real-world experience in the aviation and military genres, as well as a commitment to collaborating on a robust production infrastructure, expands our combined development opportunities, making for what will be an enduring, successful relationship.”
“When our phone started ringing with first-look offers, Texas Crew’s reputation as a cadre of straight shooting and preeminent story tellers made it an easy decision.” said W. Hulsey Smith, Founder and Executive Producer, V1 Productions. “Texas Crew values our dedication to only steadying our lens on stories that viscerally emote.
We don’t believe in half measures. Levering V1’s infrastructure and development slate, together we will harness the storytelling magic that sets our projects apart from the noise in today’s content market.”
This announcement comes hot on the heels of a busy 2022 for both companies. Texas Crew Productions tripled its gross revenue in the last four years and produced more than 50 original hours this past year alone for networks and streamers including Oxygen, Facebook Watch, FOX, Peacock, A&E, discovery+ and more. Texas Crew was also acquired by Asylum Entertainment Group to supercharge its development portfolio and launched several projects, including the recent premieres of Sleeping with Death (Oxygen) and How I Caught My Killer (Hulu). V1 Productions doubled the size of both its creative team and physical footprint, invested heavily in infrastructure, saw the second season of its flagship program, Straight and Level, released on Amazon Prime Video, and produced multiple live events along with a full slate of docuseries programming.
“With a little luck and strong tailwinds, this first-look positions our combined efforts not just to be accretive, but to really push the throttles up across development, production, and delivery to the point where the machmeter starts kicking.” said Smith.
ABOUT TEXAS CREW PRODUCTIONS
Texas Crew Productions, part of Asylum Entertainment Group, has built a reputation for delivering first-class content on time, on budget and with a friendly Texas-sized smile for broadcasters and streamers of all shapes and sizes. From its first series Friday Night Tykes, Texas Crew continues to prove that premium content isn’t defined by budgets or physical location, but by creative vision, expert execution, and detailed management in every phase of production. Its notable content includes the NAACP Image Award-winning two-hour special The 44th President: In His Own Words (HISTORY), ESPN 30 for 30‘s Brian and the Boz and Phi Slama Jama; the six- part investigative series In the Valley of Sin (FOX); the shocking two-part limited series Who Killed My Son? (Investigation Discovery); the reboot of the long-running series Sell This House (A+E); the reboot of Ripley’s Believe It or Not (Travel); and more than 50 hours of true-crime programming on Oxygen, including The Disappearance of Maura Murray and Killer Relationship with Faith Jenkins. Currently, Texas Crew has projects in production and development for a number of premium broadcasters and streamers, including Peacock, FOX, AXS, ESPN, and Hulu. FMI: TexasCrew.com.
ABOUT V1 PRODUCTIONS
V1 Productions is a premiere full-service media house that has built a reputation for delivering compelling, humanistic stories through its unscripted and live productions as well as breathtaking cinematography. V1 steadies its lens on real stories that emote the humanistic and truth atoms that inspire. Its flagship three-season docuseries, Straight and Level, currently on Amazon Prime Video, is the most-watched aviation-based lifestyle program in the 21st Century and reignites the wonder of flight by chronicling some of the greatest aviators of this generation. V1 Founder and Executive Producer, W. Hulsey Smith was recognized with a 2022 Business Aviation Top 40 Under 40 Award from the National Business Aviation Association for his personal contributions to the growth of the aviation industry through his business acumen and passionate work of capturing the golden age of aviation on-screen. Based in Texas with locations in Dallas and Fort Worth, V1 has projects currently under development and in production across multiple genres. FMI: www.V1.live.