John Gore Studios Merges With U.S. Sister Company as CEO Hilary Strong Exits
John Gore Studios will fold into its U.S.-based sister company, The John Gore Organisation, under a single holding company, with owner-founder John Gore taking direct executive leadership of the combined entity — and CEO Hilary Strong stepping down (Variety).
The consolidation, announced 25 August 2026, is designed to bring the companies' film, television and theatrical businesses under one strategic roof and improve coordination between the UK and U.S. operations, according to Variety.
John Gore has spent more than $100 million building John Gore Studios since its launch in January 2025, acquiring production, IP, distribution and sales businesses along with Angels Costumes, the London-based costume house whose wardrobe has dressed British film and television productions for over a century (Variety).
Strong joined as CEO at the studio's official launch in January 2025, arriving from Agatha Christie Ltd., where she had served as chief executive (Variety). Her career spans 35 years of leadership in film and television, and she co-founded International Literary Properties, a company that acquires and manages literary estates (John Gore Studios).
Under her tenure, the studio went from zero to seven feature films in 18 months — a build-out Gore himself credited to Strong and her team (Variety). The inaugural slate, unveiled at launch, included a Joan Collins film, a Wallis Simpson biopic, and a project with Luke Hemsworth attached (The Hollywood Reporter; Deadline).
Strong said she and Gore agreed that with the global business being reshaped, her work at John Gore Studios was done (Variety). Gore will now lead both companies directly as owner and executive chairman.
The merger collapses a structure that had existed for roughly 19 months. John Gore Studios was set up as the UK production and sales arm of Gore's broader entertainment empire, which spans Broadway and West End theatre through The John Gore Organisation. Bringing the two under a single holding company and a single boss removes a layer of management at a moment when the studio's slate has scaled to a level that demands unified distribution and strategy decisions across both sides of the Atlantic.
What that means in practical terms is that a producer who built his name on live theatre now holds all the cards — film, television, theatrical and a historic costume house — in one hand. Whether that concentrated control speeds projects to screens or narrows the decision-making pipeline will be visible in the next round of slate announcements and festival-marketplace deals.
