Vancouver: Three longtime staffers of Force Four Entertainment have inked a deal with founders Hugh and Debra Beard to take ownership of the Vancouver-based prodco and its parent company.

President Rob Bromley, executive producer John Ritchie, and Gillian Lowrey, director of business affairs, took the reins on Oct. 30, just as the Beards formed a new company, with a nearly identical name, in order to make dramas and features.

"As a part of the deal, Hugh took a roster of handpicked drama projects with him that he was strongly associated with and felt a loyalty to," says Bromley. "It was a fair compromise to make the deal work."

The newly formed Force Four Films is wholly owned by the Beards, but shares some staff with the older company, which continues to focus on lifestyle and reality titles.

The Beards were spurred by their globetrotting and award-winning projects such as Human Cargo and Murder Unveiled.

"This wasn't an overnight process," says Hugh Beard. "We'd worked on the company for [25 years], and this was an opportunity to pass this on to loyal employees who helped build the company."

Force Four Entertainment is currently producing season six of The Shopping Bags for W Network and Fine Living and season two of the reality Making It Big for Life Network. They've also just signed a distribution deal with Beyond International for Making It Big and their new relationship reality series Manhattan Matchmaker.

www.forcefour.com