EXCLUSIVE: Blink49 Studios is bolstering its unscripted ranks in Canada.
The company, which is behind series such as CTV’s Queen of the Castle and Prime Video’s Romcon: Who The F**k is Jason Porter?, has promoted Toby Dormer to President, Canada, Unscripted Division. He was previously EVP, Unscripted Television.
Based in Vancouver, he continues to report to Tara Long, Global President, Unscripted Television.
In the new role, Dormer, who founded successful British production company Remedy before selling it to Argonon and eventually moving to Canada, will oversee all Canadian unscripted operations.
He is also tasked with working closely with the company’s U.S. team to bring productions north of the border to use crews and locations. The company did production services on Prime Video’s Beast Games, which was the largest unscripted series to be produced in Canada with a crew of over 1,700.
Watch on Deadline
Other U.S. series that are in production in Canada include an untitled female CEO docuseries for Prime Video that follows multi-hyphenate female CEOs including Serena Williams, and season two of The Braxtons, which premieres in October.
His team has also recently scored new commissions such as Crave’s Blue Collar and Rogers’ Come Dine with Me Canada.
As part of the moves, the company has also promoted two team members. In Vancouver, Vera Lubimova, who was an executive producer on Queen of the Castle, has been appointed SVP, Production, Unscripted Television. In Toronto, Vince Buda joins as Vice President of Production, Unscripted Television, having served as the executive in charge on Beast Games. Both report directly to Dormer, who also works closely with SVP of Unscripted Development, Allison Brough.
“Toby has been a driving force behind our unscripted success in Canada, building a best-in-class, production-ready operation that delivers scale and efficiency without compromising quality,” said Long. “His deep industry experience, creative instincts, and collaborative spirit have been invaluable to the evolution of our unscripted division. As we continue to grow our unscripted business with global aspirations, these strategic promotions strengthen the infrastructure and production capabilities we need to scale across Canada and beyond.”
“The rapid growth of Blink49’s unscripted business has been remarkable,” added Dormer. “From an empty slate when we launched in 2022, to this year when we will produce well over one hundred episodes of content. I’m incredibly proud of our teams in Toronto and Vancouver, grateful to our network partners, and excited to keep building alongside our U.S. team to deliver premium projects on both sides of the border.”