Original Productions
Original Productions is a Burbank-based, FremantleMedia-owned unscripted television production company producing flagship reality series (Deadliest Catch, Storage Wars, Ice Road Truckers) and documentaries for major U.S. networks and streaming platforms including Discovery, Netflix, MAX, Peacock, and Prime Video.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2000
- HeadquartersBurbank, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Original Productions does
Original Productions is a Burbank, California-based television production company founded in 1999/2000 and wholly-owned by FremantleMedia Group (operating legally as FremantleMedia North America, Inc.). The company specializes in unscripted and documentary content for major U.S. broadcast networks and streaming platforms, with a content portfolio spanning adventure reality (Deadliest Catch, Bering Sea Gold, Ice Road Truckers), competition series (Race to Survive Alaska/New Zealand, Storage Wars, Mud Madness), true-crime and political documentaries (Waco: American Apocalypse, Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror, Rather, Loan Wolves, A Radical Life), food and travel programming (Chasing Flavor, Foodways with Carla Hall), and cultural documentaries (Phat Tuesdays, Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles). Its flagship franchise, Deadliest Catch, has aired on Discovery since April 2005 across 20+ seasons and is filmed with nearly 1,000 cameras capturing approximately 25,000-47,000 hours of footage per season.
The company's underlying technical capability centers on extreme-environment multi-camera capture systems and wireless ingest/transcode pipelines feeding Avid-based real-time editing workflows; it also operates two wholly-owned service subsidiaries — MAX POST (post-production, shared storage, ingest/transcode, and finishing) and Amygdala Music (custom production music publishing) — that capture internal production value-chain economics. Distribution spans virtually every major U.S. buyer, including Discovery, Netflix, MAX, Peacock, Prime Video, Disney+, A&E, History, USA Network, Hulu, CNBC, and Lifetime.
Original Productions monetizes through per-project production fees and content licensing agreements negotiated with network and streaming buyers; pricing is not publicly disclosed. The company operates from its headquarters at 2900 W Alameda Ave, Burbank, with an 11-50 employee core team supplemented by freelance production labor, and is led by President Jeff Hasler. Its strategic positioning combines established franchise stewardship (Deadliest Catch family of shows, Storage Wars, Ice Road Truckers) with active format and geographic expansion (Deadliest Catch: Northern Edge in Canada with Discovery, Race to Survive New Zealand), documentary genre diversification, and a 2023 slate of first-look talent deals and DEI pipeline partnerships.
Original Productions firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Original Productions
- Legal name
- FremantleMedia North America, Inc.
- Website
- https://originalproductions.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2000
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Original Productions is a Burbank-based, FremantleMedia-owned unscripted television production company producing flagship reality series (Deadliest Catch, Storage Wars, Ice Road Truckers) and documentaries for major U.S. networks and streaming platforms including Discovery, Netflix, MAX, Peacock, and Prime Video.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Original Productions industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Television Production Services
- NAICS
- Motion Picture and Video Production (51211), Motion Picture and Video Industries (5121), Postproduction Services and Other Motion Picture and Video Industries (51219)
- SIC
- Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Unscripted/Reality TV Production (Live-Action) (MPADABAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Scripted TV Series Production (Live-Action) (MPADABAB), Live-Action International/Co-Production & Service Production (MPADABAG)
Keywords
Where Original Productions is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Burbank
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Original Productions business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Television Production and Licensing: Original Productions generates revenue by producing unscripted television content and licensing it to broadcast networks and streaming platforms. The company creates original series that air on Discovery, Netflix, A&E, History, USA Network, MAX, Peacock, Disney+, Lifetime, Prime Video, CNBC, Hulu, and other outlets. Revenue comes from production fees, licensing rights, and potentially backend participation in successful properties.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels7 records
Marketing channels5 records
Original Productions product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Original Productions develops and produces unscripted television series — including adventure reality (Deadliest Catch, Bering Sea Gold, Ice Road Truckers), competition formats (Race to Survive, Storage Wars, Mud Madness), documentaries (Waco: American Apocalypse, Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror, Rather, Phat Tuesdays), and food/travel lifestyle programming (Chasing Flavor, Jay Leno's Garage) — for sale and licensing to U.S. cable networks and global streaming platforms. The company also operates two in-house service divisions, MAX POST (post-production facilities, shared storage, editorial rentals, ingest/transcode, broadcast finishing) and Amygdala Music (custom production music library), supporting both internal shows and external clients.
Product overview
Original Productions is a television production company specializing in documentary and reality series. The company produces a diverse portfolio of unscripted programming including adventure/exploration series (Deadliest Catch, Bering Sea Gold, Ice Road Truckers), competition series (Race to Survive Alaska/New Zealand, Storage Wars, Mud Madness), true crime documentaries (Waco: American Apocalypse, A Radical Life), food and travel programming (Chasing Flavor, Foodways with Carla Hall), comedy documentaries (Phat Tuesdays, Rather), and lifestyle series (Growing Belushi, Jay Leno's Garage). The company operates two subsidiary service divisions: MAX POST (post-production services including editorial, storage, and finishing) and Amygdala Music (custom music publishing). Programs are distributed across major streaming platforms including Discovery, Netflix, MAX, Peacock, Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, A&E, History, Lifetime, CNBC, and USA Network.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Deadliest Catch
- Deadliest Catch: The Viking Returns
- Bering Sea Gold
- Ice Road Truckers
- Storage Wars
- Race to Survive Alaska
- Race to Survive New Zealand
- Waco: American Apocalypse
- Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror
- A Radical Life
- Rather
Quantifiable outcome
- Deadliest Catch has been Discovery Canada's #1 series, reaching over 1.6 million viewers
Companies that use Original Productions
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Original Productions technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature2 records
Original Productions partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- AttractioncoreAttraction is a co-producer of Deadliest Catch: Northern Edge, the first international adaptation of the Deadliest Catch franchise, produced in association with Discovery Canada and Discovery US.
- FremantlecoreFremantle is the parent company of Original Productions. The company operates as part of FremantleMedia North America Inc., which provides terms of service and privacy policies for Original Productions' website.
- Reginald HudlinminorDirector and producer who struck a first-look deal with Original Productions after collaborating on Phat Tuesdays documentary. Hudlin has also directed documentaries such as Apple's Sidney and comedy feature House Party.
- Byron PhillipsminorProducer of live events including the Oscars and NAACP Image Awards who has struck a first-look deal with Original Productions after collaborating on Phat Tuesdays.
- Fresh FilmsminorDEI partnership bringing up underestimated young people to the forefront of TV and film through mentorship programs on working sets to help prepare them for success in the creative economy.
- Staff Me Up - Coded for InclusionminorDEI partnership focused on inclusive hiring strategy integration.
- The Handy FoundationminorDEI partnership supporting inclusive hiring strategies.
- supplier.iominorDEI partnership providing access to a network of diverse vendors for productions.
- Discovery CanadacoreDiscovery Canada is a co-producer and broadcaster of Deadliest Catch: Northern Edge, premiering Winter 2027. The original Deadliest Catch ranked as Discovery Canada's #1 series in 2025.
- Discovery UScoreDiscovery US is a co-producer and broadcaster partner for Deadliest Catch: Northern Edge.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Original Productions competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- World of Wonder: Independent production company behind RuPaul's Drag Race and many documentary series. Directly comparable to OP because it builds and licenses cult unscripted franchises across broadcast and streaming, with similar IP-extension and international format sales.
- 495 Productions: Sister company under Fremantle producing unscripted hits including Jersey Shore, The Amazing Race, and Ninja Warrior. Directly comparable because both are Fremantle-owned unscripted production shops operating with similar economics, talent pipelines, and buyer relationships.
- 44 Blue Productions: Long-running unscripted producer behind Locked Up Abroad and Wicked Tuna. Directly comparable to OP because it produces similarly structured adventure/reality and documentary content for cable networks, with comparable headcount and licensing model.
- Magical Elves: Boutique unscripted production company behind Top Chef and Project Runway. Directly comparable to OP because it develops and produces premium unscripted franchises sold to multiple cable and streaming buyers, with a similar focus on awards-eligible reality and documentary formats.
- Leftfield Pictures: Unscripted producer of Pawn Stars, American Restoration, and Best Room Wins. Directly comparable to OP because it produces durable cable reality franchises with strong network partners and similar production economics around brand-defining character-driven series.
- Sharp Entertainment: Unscripted production company producing 90 Day Fiancé spinoffs and extreme/lifestyle reality. Directly comparable to OP because it operates in the same cable-and-streaming reality genre with similar headcount and franchise-extension model.
- High Noon Entertainment: Unscripted producer behind Fixer Upper and several Discovery and Magnolia Network series. Directly comparable to OP because it develops and produces lifestyle and competition reality for the same core set of cable and streaming buyers.
Broad incumbents
- All3Media America: U.S. arm of global production group All3Media, producing unscripted and scripted content across multiple labels. Broadly comparable to OP as a wider portfolio operator in the same space, but with significantly more scale and a more diversified scripted footprint.
- Banijay: World's largest independent content producer (owns Endemol Shine, etc.) with deep unscripted and format-trading capabilities. Broadly comparable to OP because it operates in the same global unscripted market, but with vastly greater scale and a much larger international format catalog.
- ITV Studios: Global production and distribution arm of ITV plc producing unscripted, scripted, and formats worldwide. Broadly comparable to OP because it produces and distributes unscripted content to U.S. networks and streamers, but at a much larger, publicly-reportable scale.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Original Productions social profiles
Digital presenceOriginal Productions financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Original Productions leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles13 records
Original Productions subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Original Productions funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Original Productions M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Original Productions
What does Original Productions do?
Original Productions develops and produces unscripted television series — including adventure reality (Deadliest Catch, Bering Sea Gold, Ice Road Truckers), competition formats (Race to Survive, Storage Wars, Mud Madness), documentaries (Waco: American Apocalypse, Oklahoma City Bombing: American Terror, Rather, Phat Tuesdays), and food/travel lifestyle programming (Chasing Flavor, Jay Leno's Garage) — for sale and licensing to U.S. cable networks and global streaming platforms. The company also operates two in-house service divisions, MAX POST (post-production facilities, shared storage, editorial rentals, ingest/transcode, broadcast finishing) and Amygdala Music (custom production music library), supporting both internal shows and external clients.
Is Original Productions a public or private company?
Original Productions is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Original Productions founded?
Original Productions was founded in 2000. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Original Productions based?
Original Productions is headquartered in Burbank, United States, in the North America region.
How does Original Productions make money?
One revenue line is on record: television Production and Licensing.
Who are Original Productions's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are World of Wonder, 495 Productions, 44 Blue Productions, Magical Elves, Leftfield Pictures, Sharp Entertainment and High Noon Entertainment. Broad incumbents are All3Media America, Banijay and ITV Studios.
Does Original Productions have an API?
No public API is recorded for Original Productions.
What industry is Original Productions in?
Original Productions's product category is Television Production Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPADABAC, Unscripted/Reality TV Production (Live-Action), with a secondary code of MPADABAB, Scripted TV Series Production (Live-Action). Its NAICS code is 51211 and its SIC code is 7812.