Ryan Reynolds’ love affair with Wales is getting stronger.
The actor, producer and investor has signed a deal with Welsh public service network S4C for a ‘Welsh Wednesdays’ block on his Fubo channel in the U.S.
This will see S4C providing six hours of Welsh-language content per week that he will curate on his Maximum Effort streaming net. These include drama series Bang from Joio and Artists Studio, Petrol Head (Welsh title Pen Patrol) from Rondo, Red Wall (Y Wal Goch) from Afanti, Wrexham Our Club (Wrecsam Clwb Ni) from Wildflame, Vets (Y Fets) from Boom and Gareth Bale: Living the Dream (Gareth Bale: Bwy’r Freuddwyd) from Burn Media.
Reynolds is the owner of Welsh football club Wrexham FC along with Rob McElhenny. The pair oversaw a promotion from the National League into the English Football League for the first time in well over a decade in the recent 2022/23 season. A doc following the team, Welcome to Wrexham, has been a hit on FX and Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ internationally.
Today, he and McElhenny were unveiled among the new investors of Formula 1 team Alpine.
“Ryan Reynolds is our adopted Welshman and his respect, understanding and commitment to Wrexham and Wales is unquestionable,” said Llinos Griffin-Williams, S4C Chief Content Officer.
“Together with Ryan and the Maximum Effort team we have curated a slate of exciting shows for a global audience, Ryan understands the importance of Welsh culture and the language and has fallen in love with Wales and the Welsh people.”
She added: “This commercial deal will take Welsh language content to Hollywood and the world. It will benefit the entire creative sector and talent pool here in Wales as we showcase everything from S4C dramas to entertainment formats, documentaries and sport. We’re a small nation that punches well above our weight.”
UK Government Media Minister John Whittingdale said: “International interest in Welsh culture, language and talent has never been higher. It is great to hear that thanks to this new partnership, and with the help of Ryan Reynolds, millions of people across the US will be able to experience the very best TV shows from S4C.”
Reynolds’ Maximum Effort Channel is a joint venture between sports TV streamer Fubo and Maximum Effort, the production operations he runs that’s behind the Deadpool movies.
