Shaftesbury Announces Launch of U.S. Division

Shaftesbury Announces Launch of U.S. Division

U.S. industry veteran Tom Mazza and senior development executive Maggie
Murphy to co-head new division based in Los Angeles

TORONTO, Aug. 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - Shaftesbury, one of Canada's leading
creators and producers of original programming for television and
multiple platforms, today announced the launch of Shaftesbury U.S., a
new division focused on development for the U.S. market located in Los
Angeles, California. Effective September 1, former Columbia TriStar
Network Television President Tom Mazza and senior development executive
Maggie Murphy have been appointed to jointly oversee the division as
co-heads, reporting directly to Christina Jennings, Chairman and CEO,
Shaftesbury. Jeff Alpern of The Alpern Group introduced Mazza and
Murphy to Shaftesbury.

"Establishing a local presence in the U.S. is the next important step in
the growth of our company," said Jennings. "Tom and Maggie are
exceptional executives who have extensive roots in the U.S. creative
community and strong relationships with American broadcasters that will
allow us to expand our opportunities in the market."

"There is great opportunity for joint development in production between
Canada and the United States, and we are thrilled to be joining such a
prolific and dynamic Canadian production company, building on their
incredibly successful business, " said Mazza.

With an extensive, 20-year background in television development,
production, distribution, research and marketing, Mazza joins
Shaftesbury from Cookie Jar Entertainment, where he served as Executive
Vice President and Head of Worldwide Television. Prior to that, in
2003, he co-founded Madison Road Entertainment (MRE), a Los
Angeles-based company created to serve the branded entertainment needs
of the broadcast television and advertising industries. At MRE, Mazza
executive produced Treasure Hunters for NBC and Greensburg with Leonardo DiCaprio for Discovery, and integrated Proctor & Gamble,
Levi's, Pfizer, Mars, Wal-Mart, Toyota, ASK.com and Motorola into
numerous television properties.

Before co-founding MRE, Mazza served as President of Columbia TriStar
Network Television (now Sony Television), where he directed all
operations for the network television division, which was a full
service television studio serving all broadcast and cable networks.
Series produced during his tenure included Dawson's Creek (WB), King of Queens (CBS), Family Law (CBS), The Guardian (CBS), Pasadena (FOX) and The Tick (Fox).

Prior to that, Mazza was a 12-year veteran of Paramount Network
Television, where he served as Executive Vice President of Creative
Affairs and was responsible for all primetime television development as
well as Paramount's roster of writers and on-air talent. While at
Paramount, Mazza oversaw some of the most successful franchises in
Paramount's history including Frasier, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, MacGyver, Becker JAG, Nash Bridges, Clueless and
Soul Food.

With more than 15 years experience in television development and
production, Shaftesbury U.S. co-head Maggie Murphy most recently served
as Senior Vice President of Development for Cookie Jar Entertainment,
working alongside Mazza. Prior to that, she served as President of
Kiefer Sutherland's Eastside Entertainment, part of 20(th) Century Fox, where she oversaw development of comedy and drama for
television, film and digital media and brokered deals for property
acquisition with Emmy award-winning writer Michael Caleo (The Sopranos) and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Lucinda Franks, among others.

Before that, Murphy was Senior Vice President of Drama Development for
UPN, where she developed the USA Network hit In Plain Sight with Mary McCormick and helped develop shows with Sex and the City executive producer Darren Star, Black Hawk Down director Simon West, Dawson's Creek writer Kevin Williamson and Academy Award winner Diablo Cody. She also
supervised the creation, from inception to series, for a variety of
shows including Veronica Mars. Before UPN, Murphy served as Senior Vice President during the
inception of Regency TV. During her six-year tenure there, she helped
create and develop top-rated series including Roswell, Bernie Mac and Malcolm in the Middle.

Before joining UPN, Murphy served as Director of Creative Affairs for
David E. Kelley Productions, where she contributed to the development
and production of series including Chicago Hope, The Practice and Ally McBeal.

Mazza and Murphy will be based at Shaftesbury's new U.S. office in Los
Angeles as of September 1, 2011.

About Shaftesbury:

Founded in 1987, Shaftesbury is an award-winning creator, producer and
distributor of original content for television and multiple platforms,
with programming available in more than 120 countries worldwide. Recent
productions include three seasons of The Listener for CTV and Fox International Channels; five seasons of Murdoch Mysteries for Citytv, UKTV and ITV STUDIOS Global Entertainment; and two seasons
of Good Dog, an irreverent comedy from acclaimed writer and producer
Ken Finkleman (The Newsroom) for HBO Canada. Shaftesbury's slate of programming for kids and
families includes the global hit series Life with Derek and the movie follow-up to the series, Vacation withDerek. Shaftesbury's divisions include Shaftesbury Factual, which is focused
on non-fiction storytelling across a broad spectrum of genres;
Smokebomb Entertainment, the company's digital media division
responsible for the development and production of original online
series and companion web experiences for Shaftesbury's slate of
properties; and Shaftesbury Sales Company, which manages international
sales and distribution for the company's content. www.shaftesbury.ca.

SOURCE Shaftesbury Films Inc.

Shaftesbury Films Inc.

CONTACT: Katherine Wolfgang VP, Communications, Shaftesbury kwolfgang@shaftesbury.ca Office: 416-363-1411 Mobile: 416-669-2823

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