The Tinopolis Group, an international independent television production and distribution company, has further bolstered its presence in the U.S. with the acquisition of Magical Elves. The Emmy Award-winning team of Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth is responsible for many television successes including Top Chef, Cold Justice, Time of Death, Braxton Family Values, Tamar & Vince, and The Real L Word, as well as concert documentary films Justin Bieber: Never Say Never and Katy Perry: Part of Me.

The Peabody award-winning Magical Elves, formed in 2001, has established itself as one of the US’ most innovative production companies. From the outset the international appeal, quality and compelling nature of its productions have resonated well with leading networks, studios and brands around the world, with programs currently airing in most major territories.

In addition to award-winning Top Chef, Magical Elves also developed and produced Project Runway for Bravo (now shown on Lifetime), which remains one of the most successful cable formats in history. Their highly successful digital division has created cutting edge content for a variety of brands and networks, and recently won an Emmy for Top Chef: Last Chance Kitchen. Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, which they produced for Paramount, is the third highest-grossing documentary of all time. Their follow-up, Katy Perry: Part of Me, marked Cutforth and Lipsitz’s directorial debut. Their second feature as directors, Under the Electric Sky, recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.

Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz will continue to lead the business and now become shareholders in The Tinopolis Group.

This transaction follows on from Tinopolis’ acquisition of A. Smith & Co and Base Productions in 2011. Along with sales to the US by its other companies, particularly Pioneer, Mentorn Media, Passion Distribution and Firecracker, a large part of Group turnover now comes from the US with gross revenues for this calendar year expected to be over $225 million.

Commenting on the acquisition Ron Jones, Chairman of the Tinopolis Group, said: “Tinopolis has a clear strategy to continue building an international media business with a strong and diversified revenue base, producing quality programmes in its home territories for the world-wide market. This is another important acquisition for us, strengthening our commitment to US-based production. Magical Elves is a great company with exceptional creative leaders. We look forward to welcoming Dan and Jane to our team.

Dan Cutforth of Magical Elves said: “We’re very proud of the company we’ve built over the last 11 years and today’s announcement marks the next stage of growth and development for us.”

Jane Lipsitz added: “Tinopolis is an ambitious and growing company that shares our core principles and we’re excited about the possibilities that this partnership can bring.”