Kelsey Grammer becomes Reality TV producer

[HMG Celebrity News] – Kelsey Grammer has been on TV since the early 80′s but he’s now decided to expand his presence behind the camera. He’s just formed a company to create new reality shows, with himself as producer.

The 55-year old actor has teamed up with long-time friend and reality maven Stella Bulochnikov-Stolper to form ‘G3 Productions,’ a new shingle entirely dedicated to reality TV. Kelsey and Stella will develop concepts and formats for shows, which will then be sold around the world by the Paris-based distribution network, Zodiak.

“It’s an ideal partnership for both parties,” Zodiak’s COO, Tony Yates tells Variety. “Kelsey brings an iconic brand and we can offer worldwide distribution.”

Kelsey and Stella are already in business together – Kelsey’s other production firm ‘Grammnet’ makes the drama series ‘Boss’ which you can see on Starz, and ‘Girlfriends’ which is on CW. For the new venture they’ll be sharing office space at Zodiak’s west coast facility in Santa Monica.

“I knew Kelsey loved this space and would love to pop some big shows,” Stella, a former VH1 programming executive tells the scribes. “The idea that he’d lend his name and star power to working on some formats was exciting. Then to have Zodiak sell them all over the world – that’s going to produce some fireworks.”

Kelsey was little less gushing;

“Combining all our talents with the people at Zodiak makes for an exciting collaboration,” is all he would say.

In just the last year Zodiak has produced 16 shows that are either in production or already airing. And their CEO, Grant Mansfield is really jazzed by the new deal;

“They’ve got fantastic contacts and great ideas,” he enthused. “And we’ve got a big development department and international distribution. I think it’ll be interesting to see what we can do together.”

As long as they do better than ‘Hank’ or ‘Back to You’ they could be onto a winner. I don’t think current TV even needs more reality shows, but let’s hear your views on this deal…