Chris Philip To Lead Starlings Entertainment's New TV Division

Karine Martin, CEO of Starlings Entertainment and Jeffrey W. Stentz, President of Starlings Entertainment, announced today their expansion into television, with the launch of Starlings Television, led by studio executive and producer Chris Philip. The announcement of this new development comes on the heels of their successful investment in Paramount's Elton John biopic, ROCKETMAN.

Philip and Starlings Television have been working together since 2018 to develop, co-produce, and co-finance original scripted content. Now with this official launch, Starlings Television is announcing two exciting new scripted dramas have been greenlit:

The first, "Pandora," a young adult Science fiction series 13-episode order from The CW Network, premiering on Tuesday, July 16 at 8:00 p.m. in the U.S. Starlings recently concluded a deal with Sony International to handle international distribution.

The second, "Departure," a 6 episode first season order starring Academy Award winner Christopher Plummer and Emmy Award winner Archie Panjabi, produced by Shaftesbury, that will air on Global Television Network in Canada and NBC Universal Channels in select international territories.

Starlings Television is developing, co-producing and co-financing original scripted content and is also currently working closely with Ben Silverman's Propagate on a diverse slate of scripted dramas from both companies; their first together is set up at a premium U.S. network with Robert Rodriguez directing and executive-producing and Academy Award winner David Franzoni writing.

Philip spent 13 years as a Vice President at Universal and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment before Universal acquired PolyGram, he then became President at London based Power Television, where he helped package, sell and produce two NBC series; action series "XIII: The Conspiracy," starring Val Kilmer and Stephen Dorff and adventure series, "Crusoe," starring Philip Winchester, among others. Philip then launched Engine Entertainment, which partnered with Ben Silverman's Electus, launching their international division. Philip produced with Sierra Affinity and executive-produced NBC's prime time drama, "Siberia," before going on to produce for Televisa and heading up an English language scripted initiative where he set up six series at U.S. networks; co-created and executive-produced 52 episodes of "Deep Undercover," currently streaming on Netflix; acquired the Spanish format rights to "Grand Hotel," and co-created 10 episodes of Spy thriller "Duality," which will be shot in Mexico, with Starlings and Televisa to co-finance and co-produce.

"We are creating a well-balanced slate while adjusting to the constant shift in content creation by offering co-financing to networks, studio partners, producers and writers worldwide. I'm thrilled to continue building something special with Karine and Jeff", said Philip in a statement.

"We are looking forward to working with top talent as we acquire, create and develop engaging TV projects that will appeal to both the US and international markets," said Martin in a statement. "I am excited to have Chris on board. I feel we are creating a synergetic development and production HUB that has already started to bring together great creative minds and give them the space they need to develop exciting new series."

"Pandora" is a young adult space epic set in the year 2199. The series centers on Jax, a resourceful young woman who has lost everything, but finds a new life at Earth's Space Training Academy where she and her friends learn to defend the Galaxy from threats, both alien and human. Jax's missions and her search for the truth about her parents' death will take her to the furthest reaches of the Galaxy where she will discover that the biggest surprises are hidden inside herself. With a newfound power she never imagined, she could either be humanity's salvation or its destruction.

"Pandora" stars Priscilla Quintana (POLAROID, TRAFFIK), Oliver Dench (TECHNOLOGY), Raechelle Banno ("Home and Away") John Harlan Kim ("The Librarians"), Ben Radcliffe ("Ransom"), Banita Sandhu (OCTOBER), Martin Bobb-Semple ("Free Rein") and Noah Huntley ("Free Rein"). It is executive produced by Mark A. Altman ("Castle," "The Librarians"), Steve Kriozere ("NCIS," "Necessary Roughness"), Thomas P. Vitale, Karine Martin, and Chris Philip and produced by Starlings Television in association with Radioactive Fishtank and Vital Signs Entertainment.

"Departure" is a six part event series starring Emmy Award-winner Archie Panjabi ("The Good Wife") and Academy Award-winner Christopher Plummer (ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD, A BEAUTIFUL MIND). Flight 716 - carrying 256 passengers from Boston to London - vanishes over the Atlantic. No distress call. Radio silence. And disturbingly, someone on board turned off the plane's transponder. What happened? The whole world wants to know... Talented investigator Kendra Malley is called in to solve the mystery, but soon finds that this crash is unlike anything she has seen before. It's a thriller propelled by the danger and intrigue that surround the disaster and the powerful interests that want to silence the truth.

Departure was created by Vince Shiao ("Ransom," "Aftermath,") and developed by Shaftesbury in association with Corus and RED ARROW Studios International, which is handling international sales. Malcolm Macrury is showrunning with T.J. Scott ("Orphan Black") directing. The series is produced by Shaftesbury and Greenpoint Productions Ltd., with Starlings co-financing and Chris Philip and Karine Martin executive producing.

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