The founders of Twin Pines Entertainment see an opportunity to make movies and TV shows geared around professional sports teams aimed at the millions of people in America’s heartland — which they argue are often dismissed by Hollywood.
Twin Pines was founded by twin brothers Clint Kisker (a Legendary Entertainment alum) and Sean Kisker (a former HBO Max exec) alongside Jason Kander, a former Secretary of State for Missouri. They’re each Midwestern natives — the Kiskers grew up in St. Louis — with backgrounds spanning entertainment, sports and public leadership.
Clint Kisker serves as CEO, Sean Kisker as head of entertainment and Kander as head of business development. The 12-person company is based in Kansas City, Missouri, with offices in Los Angeles.
The trio started Twin Pines to produce projects rooted in “unconventional” narratives, often from the point of view of sports teams and their fans: the people in the stands, the families that pass a team down through generations, and the towns that rise and fall with every season.
The company plans to produce programming with the mission to “rewrite the story of the heartland,” according to Clint Kisker. The company’s name is a reference to the Twin Pines Mall from 1985 classic “Back to the Future” — and it’s also a nod to the Kisker twins.
Twin Pines’ has several unscripted, scripted and podcast projects in development right now, in partnership with pro sports teams, but Clint Kisker isn’t ready to reveal those just yet.
“We’re a storytelling company built to bring America’s overlooked middle to the world,” Clint Kisker says. “For a generation, the entertainment industry has either ignored the heartland or caricatured it, leaving one of the country’s largest audiences underserved. We know firsthand how rich it is with creators, subcultures and stories. And sports team fandom is our front door. It runs deep, it’s passed down through generations, and it opens onto a full range of scripted and unscripted stories this audience has been waiting for.”
To be sure, Hollywood has long tapped into sports stories originating in middle America, ranging from “Field of Dreams” to “Friday Night Lights.” Clint Sisker argues that, broadly speaking, there’s untapped demand for much more: “Our view is that there’s a whole strata of fans of teams between the Hudson River and L.A. who are not seeing themselves represented in media.”
Meanwhile, some pro teams are already producing or partnering for entertainment content themselves, like the Kansas City Chiefs’ “Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story” with Hallmark Channel; the Chicago Cubs’ “Nine Innings to Love” scripted rom-com series; and Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac’s “Welcome to Wrexham.” Says Clint Sisker, “We see that as validation that we’re headed in the right general direction.”
Todd Lieberman, a fellow Midwesterner and an Oscar-nominated producer and founder of Hidden Pictures, is serving as an adviser in shaping Twin Pines’ slate and packaging strategy. Lieberman’s credits include “War Machine,” “The Housemaid,” “The Fighter,” “The Proposal,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Wonder” and the Muppets films.
“Every producer is looking for stories with built-in audiences and real stakes,” Lieberman says. “Growing up in Cleveland, I know how much the stories from home matter, and how rarely Hollywood tells them. I’ve seen what they’re developing, and I’m excited to be in business with Sean, Clint and Jason.”
Twin Pines is backed by Toronto-based private equity firm Boardwalk Capital. The companies aren’t disclosing how much Boardwalk is investing.
“Boardwalk could not be more excited to partner with Clint, Sean, Jason and the impressive team they have assembled at Twin Pines Entertainment,” Boardwalk Capital managing partner Jordan Gnat said in a statement. “Twin Pines has recognized the significant value that intentional premium content can create for anything it supports, and the company has developed a winning playbook to do this.”
Clint Kisker has more than two decades of experience in sports, media, and entertainment. He has held senior leadership roles at Legendary Entertainment, where he served as EVP of business development, and at Madison Wells Media, which he co-founded with Gigi Pritzker, serving as president overseeing the company’s expansion across film, television, live theater, interactive media and digital content.
Sean Kisker was a founding executive of HBO Max, when it launched under AT&T’s ownership, where he also served as chief strategy officer for the streamer. Prior to that he was chief strategy officer and head of Otter Media, where he oversaw AT&T’s $1.2 billion sale of Crunchyroll to Sony and the $900 million sale of Hello Sunshine to Candle Media. He has held senior roles at WarnerMedia, Warner Bros. Discovery, Lionsgate and Annapurna Pictures.
Kander is a bestselling author, former Missouri Secretary of State and a U.S. veteran of Afghanistan.
The company’s executive ranks include Maude Standish, Twin Pines’ VP of content and audience. She previously worked as VP of programming at Fullscreen Media and as a trend forecaster at CAA. At the studio, she is focused on developing new voices and stories from top creators across all platforms.
Twin Pines was advised by Fortified Partners, Kirkland & Ellis, Heller Waldron & Pepper, and S.MET Link (founded by Phil Metz, former managing director of entertainment marketing and music at NASCAR). Boardwalk was advised by Greenberg Traurig.
Pictured above (l. to r.): Clint Kisker, Sean Kisker, Jason Kander