Selladoor Worldwide Announced Partnership With Europe's Leading Live Music Producers PIU Entertainment

Selladoor Worldwide and PIU Entertainment announced a joint venture to work closely together on producing live entertainment in the UK and Eastern Europe. The move sees Selladoor, known predominantly as a UK and international touring theatre company, move into co-presenting live entertainment and music and moving away from producing only theatre based entertainment. Whilst PIU will co-produce theatre work with Selladoor and build the international footprint of the theatre work created by both entities into the emerging Eastern Europe markets.

The collaboration will see the two organisations pull together their respective international offices in Bangkok, New York, London, Ankara, Dubai and Istanbul to create a major international foundation for launching and touring high quality entertainment further and wider.

Selladoor Worldwide have not only established themselves as an integral part of the UK regional theatre landscape, but also ever increasingly further afield as they continue to tour their UK productions internationally, including Flashdance The Musical in Ostend, Belgium, and Spamalot in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. 2017 saw Selladoor Worldwide launch two International Tours, Jersey Boys and The Producers, as well as their first show in New York City, the family favourite The Very Hungry Caterpillar at the DR2 Theatre in Union Square. As Selladoor continues to expand its worldwide opportunities, the company has rooted two new offices on opposite ends of the globe, one in New York, USA and the other in Bangkok, Thailand.

PIU Entertainment has dominated in the music entertainment industry, organising concerts in some of the world's most prestigious arenas and concert halls. However, as the company continues to grow, since being founded in 2012, PIU Entertainment is expanding its perspective and are following their intrigue and passion of family entertainment and theatre. Therefore, the partnership with Selladoor Worldwide was magnetic!

The amalgamation of the companies enables a fruitful expansion and supportive structure for both PIU Entertainment and Selladoor Worldwide, as they each learn from their varying experience, global locations, contacts and industry expertise. They have been working closely together to learn about the music and theatre industries respectively, and are keen to ensure diversification in both fields.

Executive Creative Producer, David Hutchinson for Selladoor Worldwide says: "As we continue to explore the richly diverse theatre markets around the world, we are extremely fortunate to have PIU Entertainment provide excellent knowledge and experience in new regions that Selladoor Worldwide have not yet ventured. As well as expanding the locational opportunities for our productions, we are particularly keen to diversify our offering into non-theatre entertainment and move into live music and non-traditional theatre spaces. Selladoor Worldwide currently produce exclusively musicals, plays, and family theatre, and are novices in the Music Event industry, so we are enthralled by the opportunity our joint venture with Piu Entertainment unleashes".

Cemil Demirok, CEO of PIU Entertainment says: "In 2017 we opened our London office in order to bring internationally renowned artists to UK audiences - many for the first time - and to create a strategic presence on the global stage of entertainment production. In developing the next stage of our plan to widen entertainment opportunities for world audiences, we are delighted to announce a new partnership with the award-winning UK Production Company, Selladoor Worldwide. Selladoor Worldwide are already leaders in the field of producing family entertainment and musical theatre to very wide audiences; together we plan to create pioneering festival opportunities, unique concert experiences, permanent and high-quality productions in music and theatre and much more. Selladoor is also a young company having been formed just ten years ago by its founders who were all at LIPA together - we at PIU share their boundless enthusiasm for live performing arts, for a wide slate of entertainment and a love of music, theatre, new writing, and performance. We look forward to working with them and will be announcing a slate of productions for 2019 onwards very soon".

Two leading companies, in complimenting industries, have undertaken a Joint Venture to provide expansion and diversification in their respective fields across the UK and Internationally.

Selladoor Worldwide began its life in 2009 as Sell a Door Theatre Company and has gone on to develop rapidly under co-founders David Hutchinson (Executive Creative Producer) and Phillip Rowntree (Executive Commercial Producer). The company has become an integral part of the regional theatre landscape in the UK and Ireland, and increasingly on an international platform, establishing itself as a leading producer of mid and large-scale touring theatre.

From the very outset, the company's aim has been to make accessible work for our audiences, and their experience is at the heart of the company's work and artistic planning. Principally aimed at engaging young and adult audiences and first time attendees, our objective is to continue to encourage the next generation of theatregoers. Our education programmes and online presence aim to provide the fullest experience of our productions possible.

Our origins lie in re-imagined classics and new commissions, which we continue to champion to this day. We are able to create a varied and distinctive programme; large-scale commercial touring is complimented by the company's not-for-profit routes and ongoing investment and development of new work. As a company operating across a range of scales we continue to deliver and invest in our patron base on a regional land international basis, as well as our product.

In 2017, Selladoor Worldwide produced 9 productions, with over 900 performances, across 8 countries, in over 50 venues, reaching over 400,000 audiences with The Quite Remarkable Adventures of the Owl & the Pussycat (Coventry, Belgrade Theatre), The Crucible (UK Tour), Guess How Much I Love You (UAE & Asia Tour, and Greenwich Theatre & Arts Theatre, London), Footloose The Musical (2nd UK Tour), Flashdance The Musical (UK Tour), Spamalot (UK Tour), and Footloose (2nd UK Tour), and Peter Pan A Musical Adventure (Blackpool, Winter Gardens). 2017 also saw the launch of Selladoor Worldwide's first International Tours, producing the multi-award musicals Jersey Boys and The Producers, along with our first production in the United States, bringing the popular children's tale of The Very Hungry Caterpillar to New York City.

2018 brings another exhilarating year for Selladoor. In January, we were thrilled to be producing the John Steinbeck classic Of Mice and Men in association with the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury. February brought our collaboration with the Queen's Theatre Hornchurch and Les Theatre De La Villa De Luxembourg for a limited run of Diane Samuel's Kindertransport marking 25 years since its debut at the Cockpit Theatre in London. Flashdance and Spamalot go from strength to strength as they continue their tours into 2018 visiting iconic venues such as the Manchester Palace Theatre, Brighton Theatre Royal, Zurich MAAG and the Dubai Opera House. In the summer, our production schedule really heats up as we journey to the island of Madagascar alongside Alex the lion, Marty the zebra, Melman the giraffe and Gloria the hippo in Madagascar A Musical Adventure! which tours the UK from the July 21st. We'll also be lighting the sky like a flame with the Fame 30th Anniversary UK tour opening at the Manchester Palace on the 20th July. We finish off the year in the merry old land of Oz as we return to the bright lights of Blackpool at Christmas with family favourite The Wizard of Oz. With our 2019 rostra already starting to take shape, we are thrilled with the variety of work in production, and remain committed to creating daring, diverse and Dynamic Productions that are accessible to all.

www.selladoor.com

PIU Entertainment, has established itself as the leading live music promoter in Turkey since its foundation in 2012. Since that time PIU has presented concerts by the biggest international names in music including Andre Rieu, Placido Domingo, Sarah Brightman, Diana Krall, Itzhak Perlman, Jose Carreras, Lara Fabian and many more. In another prime move, PIU Entertainment opened an office in London in 2017 and has already presented high profile International Artists in the UK including Isabelle Huppert, Al Di Meola, David Helfgott, Goran Bregovic, Ara Malikian, Buika, Idil Biret and more.

PIU Entertainment is among the producers of Banksy's 'The Story Behind: Banksy - Global Art Show'. The company is giving artist & show booking service for corporates, venues & festivals that are located in Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Middle East and Asia as well.

This year sees the company push the boundaries even further in partnering with Selladoor Worldwide, one of the most successful producers of family entertainment and the musical theatre industry in the UK.