Area tech firm buys video production company

CLEARWATER — KnowBe4, which specializes in products designed to combat phishing and other cybersecurity attacks, has acquired the firm that produced a series of training videos for it.

According to a press release, Twist and Shout Group, which has offices in both the United States and United Kingdom, will operate as “Twist and Shout Communications, a KnowBe4 company,” and “Twist and Shout Media, a KnowBe4 company,” as a result of the deal.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Twist and Shout is the creative force behind "The Inside Man," an award-winning security awareness drama series, and "Restricted Intelligence," the world's first information security awareness sitcom, now in its sixth season.

The acquisition of Twist and Shout, the release states, will enable its creative team to keep making these series and develop exciting new ideas exclusively under the KnowBe4 umbrella.

"Twist and Shout has done an incredible job creating entertaining, Hollywood-quality employee training videos that cover topics that have historically been pretty dull," KnowBe4 CEO Stu Sjouwerman states in the release. "They make fun and engaging live-action security awareness training videos with relatable characters. This acquisition will greatly benefit our customers because it will provide them with even more content to help educate their employees on a very important topic."

KnowBe4 reported $120 million in gross annual revenue last year, up from $62 million in 2017.