Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine has received funding from Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective and a subsequent investment from Otter Media.
The strategic investments, announced on Wednesday, are designed to support two-year-old Hello Sunshine’s growth in the creation of stories celebrating women and distributed across multiple platforms. The values of the investments were not disclosed.
“We very intentionally chose strategic investors who passionately and unequivocally support our mission of changing the landscape for women by putting them at the center of every narrative we create, elevate, and champion,” said Hello Sunshine CEO Sarah Harden. “We are extremely proud to extend our relationship with Otter Media, who has been a devoted partner since the beginning. We are truly honored to begin working alongside the team at Emerson Collective given their commitment to supporting impactful storytelling.”
Hello Sunshine is a producer on HBO’s “Big Little Lies,” Hulu’s “Little Fires Everywhere,” Amazon’s “Daisy Jones & the Six,” Apple’s “Are You Sleeping?,” and an untitled morning show project. Its unscripted “Shine on With Reese” launched in July, followed by “Master the Mess,” both on DirecTV. Feature projects include Sony’s “A White Lie,” Fox 2000’s “The League of Wives” and “Where the Crawdads Sing,” MGM’s “Legally Blonde 3,” and a Martina Navratilova documentary.
The company is partnered with Eve Rodsky, whose debut book, “Fair Play: The 5 New Rules to Revolutionize Your Marriage, Home and Sense of Purpose,” will be published in the fall.
Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, founded social change organization Emerson Collective in 2004. Emerson Collective became the majority owner of the Atlantic in 2017.
Otter Media, part of WarnerMedia, was formed in 2014 to acquire, invest in, and launch global over-the-top media services. In addition to Hello Sunshine, its portfolio includes Fullscreen, Rooster Teeth, Ellation, VRV, and Gunpowder & Sky.