Kevin Hart is merging his Laugh Out Loud and HartBeat Productions companies together to form a new company with a $100M investment which will “represent a new era in comedy.”
“The creation of HartBeat and our capital raise with Abry represent a new era in comedy,” Hart said. “This all started out with a mission to keep the world laughing together and I’m so proud our teams have delivered on that, putting in the hard work to build the most innovative and inclusive comedic storytelling company.”
Hart — who will act as chairman for the new company — went on to explain that HartBeat will create opportunities for a “new generation” of comedians and will continue to “open doors” for others.
“In an industry that loves to say no and close doors, I’ve been bullish about forging our own path and using our success to open doors for others. With this merger and funding, we’re taking the new blueprint we’ve built in entertainment to the next level and creating opportunities for a new generation of comedic talent. I can’t wait to bring the world more comedians, experiences, and stories with humor and heart,” Hart revealed in a statement.
Laugh Out Loud productions — which started life as a streaming service back in 2017 but has since gone on to produce shows such as “Die Hart,” and the exercise series “What the Fit”— also works with the likes of NBC, Peacock, Roku and Snap and will continue to employ its leadership team for the merger as they continue to “create high demand content.”
“At HartBeat, we’re building an end-to-end entertainment enterprise that creates, markets and distributes the most culturally relevant IP and experiences in comedy and beyond. The merger and capital raised help us further scale and invest in the future of comedic entertainment, creating more high demand content and experiences at the intersection of comedy and culture,” CEO Thai Randolph said.
