Julie Bristow, former CEO and president of Bristow Global Media (BGM), has launched The Content Catalyst Fund (CCF). The initiative will focus on content developed, delivered and designed by women and about women.
Based in Canada, with an international reach, CCF will develop and invest in unscripted and scripted content, with an initial focus on unscripted. It is designed to help female creators find an audience for their work by investing both funds and end-to-end strategic support in viable female-led projects. It has been seeded by Bristow and a small circle of like-minded investors. The fund will initially invest in a pipeline of original IP from female creators, while helping to finance the development of promising projects. The longer-term objective is to seek out projects with potential for equity investment.
“There are no end of amazing female creators out there — and no end of audiences hungry for stories told through the female lens,” said Bristow. “The problem is women working in the content industry do not enjoy the same access to influence and capital, despite market data proving conclusively that female-driven content is profitable. The CCF intends to change that. We believe there has never been a better time to rethink and redesign the way women make content for women. At CCF, content will always be queen.”
Bristow has brought in long-time colleague and collaborator Mona Minhas as chief financial officer at CCF. Minhas previously served as vice-president of finance at Rogers Communications, where she oversaw the financial management of the Canadian communication giant’s media division. During that time, she presided over the financial strategy of Sportsnet’s launch of NHL enterprise, The Shopping Channel (TSC), and also had financial oversight around content acquisition strategy and all of Rogers’ digital content.
Bristow launched BGM in 2013 and, under her leadership, it grew into a global entertainment company, specializing in premium factual content. In 2017, Kew Media Group acquired the company, and it was subsequently bought by Quebec-based Datsit Sphere in late 2019.
Prior to founding BGM, Bristow was the executive director of studio and unscripted content at Canadian broadcaster CBC’s television arm. Her international credits as an executive producer include “100 Days to Victory” (Foxtel, BBC Scotland, History), which was nominated in the best history documentary program or series category at the Canadian Screen Awards.