Ex-HBO Max and Legendary Execs Launch Twin Pines Entertainment

Twin Pines Entertainment launched with 12 staff in Kansas City, Missouri, to make movies and series built around professional sports teams and the American heartland audiences Hollywood has long ignored.

The studio's founders are twin brothers Clint Kisker, a Legendary Entertainment alum serving as CEO, and Sean Kisker, a founding executive of HBO Max who serves as head of entertainment, alongside Jason Kander, former Missouri Secretary of State and head of business development. All three are Midwestern natives. The Kiskers grew up in St. Louis. The company also maintains offices in Los Angeles.

Who is behind Twin Pines?

Clint Kisker brings more than two decades in sports, media and entertainment, including a stint as EVP of business development at Legendary Entertainment and as president of Madison Wells Media, which he co-founded with Gigi Pritzker.

Sean Kisker was chief strategy officer at HBO Max when it launched under AT&T's ownership, and earlier led Otter Media, where he oversaw AT&T's $1.2 billion sale of Crunchyroll to Sony and the $900 million sale of Hello Sunshine to Candle Media. He has also held senior roles at WarnerMedia, Warner Bros. Discovery, Lionsgate and Annapurna Pictures.

Kander is a bestselling author, former Missouri Secretary of State and a U.S. veteran of Afghanistan. The executive team also includes Maude Standish, VP of content and audience, previously VP of programming at Fullscreen Media and a trend forecaster at CAA.

Takeaway: this is a small team with unusually large-studio résumés.

What is the studio's mission?

Clint Kisker says the company plans to "rewrite the story of the heartland." The name references the Twin Pines Mall from the 1985 film "Back to the Future" and nods to the Kisker twins.

"We're a storytelling company built to bring America's overlooked middle to the world," Clint Kisker said. "For a generation, the entertainment industry has either ignored the heartland or caricatured it, leaving one of the country's largest audiences underserved. We know firsthand how rich it is with creators, subcultures and stories. And sports team fandom is our front door. It runs deep, it's passed down through generations, and it opens onto a full range of scripted and unscripted stories this audience has been waiting for."

Twin Pines has several unscripted, scripted and podcast projects in development in partnership with pro sports teams. The founders have not named them yet. Kisker argues the audience gap is real: "Our view is that there's a whole strata of fans of teams between the Hudson River and L.A. who are not seeing themselves represented in media."

Is there proof the model works?

Hollywood has told heartland sports stories before, from "Field of Dreams" to "Friday Night Lights." And some pro teams are already producing entertainment content themselves:

• The Kansas City Chiefs partnered with Hallmark Channel on "Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story"
• The Chicago Cubs produced the scripted rom-com series "Nine Innings to Love"
• Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac made "Welcome to Wrexham"

"We see that as validation that we're headed in the right general direction," Kisker said.

Todd Lieberman, an Oscar-nominated producer and founder of Hidden Pictures, is advising on the slate and packaging strategy. His credits include "The Fighter," "Beauty and the Beast," "Wonder" and the Muppets films.

"Every producer is looking for stories with built-in audiences and real stakes," Lieberman said. "Growing up in Cleveland, I know how much the stories from home matter, and how rarely Hollywood tells them. I've seen what they're developing, and I'm excited to be in business with Sean, Clint and Jason."

Who is paying for it?

Toronto-based private equity firm Boardwalk Capital backs the company. Neither side disclosed the investment amount.

"Boardwalk could not be more excited to partner with Clint, Sean, Jason and the impressive team they have assembled at Twin Pines Entertainment," Boardwalk managing partner Jordan Gnat said in a statement. "Twin Pines has recognized the significant value that intentional premium content can create for anything it supports, and the company has developed a winning playbook to do this."

Twin Pines was advised by Fortified Partners, Kirkland & Ellis, Heller Waldron & Pepper and S.MET Link, founded by Phil Metz, former managing director of entertainment marketing and music at NASCAR. Boardwalk was advised by Greenberg Traurig.

Takeaway: with private equity money, veteran streamers and sports-fandom IP, Twin Pines now has to prove unnamed projects can become real programming.