Jon Rutherford

Jon Rutherford is President, Global Rights, Franchise, and Content Strategy, Boat Rocker Studios. In this role, Rutherford oversees the sales and exploitation of all Boat Rocker owned or managed IP and brands worldwide, including Orphan Black (AMC, Bell), Dino Ranch (Disney, CBC) and Beacon 23 (MGM+). He also manages the Studio's content ownership, rights retention and investment strategy, and is responsible for sourcing projects, pre-sales, co-productions, regional productions, and franchise brand opportunities across all genres in line with that content strategy. This includes recent hit series’, Bet (Netflix) and Geek Girl (Netflix).

A veteran in the media industry, Jon was instrumental in combining Boat Rocker’s content, distribution and brands teams under the consolidated ‘Boat Rocker Studios’. Over his 25+

year career, Jon has established an excellent reputation for cultivating strong global alliances with leading broadcast networks and streaming services. In addition to the programs above, recent highlights include continued success on global sensation, The Next Step (BBC), and co-financing and spearheading content strategies for series, The Ridge (BBC, Sky NZ), Dino Ranch: Island Explorers (Warner, CBC), Mary Makes It Easy (Bell), Mix Tape (Foxtel) and Secrets In The Ice (A&E).

Prior to joining Boat Rocker, Jon was the executive vice-president of distribution & business development at Tricon Films & Television, growing its catalogue to over 5,000 hours across scripted drama & comedy, factual & lifestyle, and documentary. Jon also supervised the growth of Tricon’s kids & family division (The Next Star, Counterfeit Cat, Go Away Unicorn), established new partnerships in unscripted production (Hip Hop Evolution, Restaurant Makeover), and managed the company’s expansion into scripted drama and comedy (Sanctuary, Sensitive Skin). Prior to joining Tricon, Jon was head of distribution at Portfolio Entertainment, overseeing their catalogue of popular children’s and lifestyle entertainment (Cat In The Hat), and was operations manager at Technicolor Creative Services, and worked on such premium feature films and television series as X-Men, Fight Club, and Degrassi.