Brent Montgomery’s Wheelhouse is swimming into shark-infested waters after acquiring Anomaly Entertainment.
Anomaly Entertainment, which was founded by former Discovery execs Matthew Kelly and Michael Sorensen, has produced 40 Shark Week shows including Shaq Does Shark Week, Great White Abyss, Jackass Shark Week, Shark Trip: Eat, Pray, Chum and the upcoming KPop Shark Heroes starring Ken Jeong and Rei Ami.
It has also produced series including Discovery’s Rob Riggle: Global Investigator and Mystery at Blind Frog Ranch as well as McEnroe’s Places with John McEnroe for ESPN+
The move makes Anomaly the latest label at Wheelhouse, which operates Spoke Studios, Campfire Studios, Butternut and Twist,
Kelly and Sorensen were previously VPs, production and development at Discovery before launching Anomaly in 2017. During their time at the David Zaslav-run cable group, they oversaw series and live specials including Gold Rush, Amish Mafia and Skywire Live with Nik Wallenda.
“Few folks in our world have had the success that Matt and Mike have on both sides of the aisle, buyers and sellers,” said Wheelhouse CEO Brent Montgomery. “We see not just a great cultural fit, especially with their broad work with athletes, entertainers and creators, but also new muscles brought to the Wheelhouse ecosystem.”
“Anomaly was looking for a partner that could help us scale and grow strategically for the future, and for us to land at Wheelhouse is a full circle moment. We’ve known Brent a long time and, for us, not only did he and Wheelhouse recognize the value of the business we’ve created, but they also saw synergy in our vision, which is to produce content that elevates talent, especially today’s leading creators and sports figures, and tell their stories in exciting, authentic ways,” Kelly and Sorensen added. “We’re thrilled to be part of the Wheelhouse family and eager to expand Anomaly across new platforms, while offering even greater capabilities to our clients and collaborators.”
