The UK's top 40 film production companies
Televisual's inaugural film survey kicks off with a showcase of the UK's leading film production companies. Tim Dams profiles the indies behind some of Britain's biggest and best films
01 All3Media www.all3media.com chief exec Steve Morrison coo Jules Burns cfo Adam Jones creative director David Liddiment staff 3236 turnover £261m profit £47m key shows The Only Way is Essex (ITV2) The Cube (ITV) Horrible Histories (BBC1)
It’s All3Media’s fourth year at the top of the Production 100 survey. The production supergroup, which comprises 20 highly regarded companies in the UK and abroad, achieved UK revenues of £261m, up from £231m last year. On screen, the group produces some of the best known shows in the UK, such as Shameless and Peep Show. All3Media enjoyed a break out hit with The Only Way Is Essex, produced by its Lime Pictures division. The show picked up a Bafta this year, as did Lion TV’s Horrible Histories and Objective’s The Cube. However, the US version of Company Pictures’ Skins was cancelled after one series by MTV after causing consternation with parents and advertisers. Key All3Media show Midsomer Murders also ran into trouble after its producer, Brian True May of Bentley, sparked a press furore with comments about the casting of the series. Off screen, All3Media has been seeking a buyer. Private equity firm Permira, which holds 50% of the business, is planning an exit and looking to achieve a target price of £750m. Various buyers have been mooted, including Sony, Time Warner and ITV. A sale would cap a remarkable run for All3Media, which has gone from blank sheet of paper in 2003, via a breathtaking series of acquisitions, to become a group with a global turnover of £393m. Since the very beginning, All3Media has followed a federal model, allowing its indies creative autonomy and their own identity. It’s a model that ceo Steve Morrison describes as matrix management: “You want the companies to be as strong and self reliant as possible – we chose them because they are that type of company.” Looking ahead, the big focus is on America with All3Media aiming to double output there to $100m this year. All3Media’s indies include: Bentley Midsomer Murders Cactus The Hairy Bikers, Saturday Kitchen Live Company Skins, Shameless, The Shadow Line Lime The Only Way is Essex, Hollyoaks Lion Horrible Histories, Edwardian Farm, First Light Maverick Embarrassing Bodies, Children’s Hospital North One The Gadget Show, Fifth Gear Objective Peep Show, The Cube, Derren Brown One Potato, Two Potato Gordon’s Great Escape Optomen Heston’s Feasts, Mary Queen of Shops Studio Lambert Undercover Boss, Notting Hill Zoo (US) Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader?
02 Endemol uk www.endemoluk.com ceo Tim Hincks staff 291 turnover £238m commissions 76 hrs 724 hrs tx’d 1517 key shows Benidorm (ITV) The Million Pound Drop Live (C4) Stephen Hawking’s Universe (Discovery)
The Endemol Group, the largest global production organisation by revenue, has had a turbulent year, losing its chief executive Ynon Kreiz and other senior management figures while grappling with Euros 2bn of debt. In the UK, Endemol also faces one of its biggest challenges to date: attempting to resurrect Big Brother on a brand new channel this summer. But Endemol is no longer just defined by Big Brother, and now boasts a diverse slate in the UK across entertainment, factual, drama and kids. Even though it’s been a challenging 12 months for the superindie, with budgets under pressure, UK revenues are up from £225m to £238m. Endemol’s indies include: Remarkable Big Brother, Million Pound Drop, Pointless, Deal or No Deal, Restoration House Initial Total Wipeout, The Whole 19 Yards Tiger Aspect Benidorm, Secret Diary of a Call Girl Zeppotron 8 Out of 10 Cats, News Wipe Darlow Smithson Stephen Hawking’s Universe Tigress Nature Shock, Croc Man
03 TalkbackThames www.talkbackthames.tv ceo Sara Geater finance director David Oldfield staff 107 turnover £145m commissions 31 hrs 395 key shows The X Factor (ITV1) Britain’s Got Talent (ITV1) Take Me Out (ITV1) The Apprentice (BBC1) Four Rooms (C4)
Part of FremantleMedia, TalkbackThames co-produces two of the biggest shows on TV, The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, with Simon Cowell’s Syco. Under new ceo Sara Geater, it’s also trying to create its very own entertainment blockbusters, investing more heavily in development. Talkback took a big knock when its long running drama The Bill was cancelled last year and it recently lost high profile head of factual features Camilla Lewis to Cineflix. 04 Hit Entertainment www.hitentertainment.com ceo Jeff Dunn coo Sangeeta Desai cfo Derek Irwin evp programming and production Karen Barnes evp worldwide prog distribution Alison Homewood staff 220 turnover £143.6m profit £49.9m key shows Thomas & Friends (C5) Bob the Builder (CBeebies) Angelina Ballerina (Nick Jnr)
Hit Entertainment, which owns the rights to children’s characters including Bob The Builder, Angelina Ballerina, Fireman Sam and Thomas the Tank Engine, has had a tough time in recent years struggling under a heavy debt load. Its owner, venture capital firm Apax Partners, now seems on the verge of selling Hit. As Televisual went to press, several bidders were reported to be in the running for the company with Mattel, the owner of Barbie, as well as Disney and Hasbro all cited as potential buyers. Press reports suggested that the firm could fetch up to $1.5bn. Based in London, Hit has offices in New York, Canada, Tokyo and Hong Kong - with the latter spearheading a big recent push into Asian markets where Hit characters are popular. Just 5.3% of Hit’s revenues come from TV production, with the majority derived from its rights business. Hit has invested in a new character, Mike the Knight, which is expected to roll out on CBeebies later this year. 05 Shine Group www.shinegroup.tv ceo Elisabeth Murdoch president Alex Mahon chief counsel Richard Parsons staff 314 turnover £132.2m commissions 66 hrs 1,010 hrs tx’d 996 key shows One Born Every Minute (C4) Got To Dance (Sky) MasterChef (BBC)
Elisabeth Murdoch’s Shine Group sold to family owned News Corp in February for £415m, 10 years after the business was founded. In that time Shine expanded through acquisition and organically, venturing abroad to launch local versions of its own shows such as MasterChef. The UK, however, has long been the focus for its creativity. Shine’s UK revenues have leapt in the past year, up from £103m to £132m, as have global revenues which have risen from £257m to £402m. Within the UK, Kudos has enjoyed success with drama The Hour, but recently announced it was retiring long-running hit Spooks after a decade. Shine’s indies include: Shine TV MasterChef, Merlin, The Biggest Loser Kudos The Hour, Spooks, Hustle, Law & Order UK Princess The Wright Stuff, Got to Dance Dragonfly One Born Every Minute, The Hotel Brown Eyed Boy How Not To Live Your Life
06 Zodiak UK www.zodiakmedia.com ceo Zodiak UK Joely Fether ceo Zodiak Media Group David Frank staff 460 turnover £132m commissions 110 hrs 805 hrs tx’d 600 key shows Being Human (BBC3) Extreme Fishing with Robson Green (C5) Sing if You Can (ITV1)
Zodiak, part of Italian conglomorate De Agostini Group, acquired pioneering UK superindie RDF Media for £150m last year, and recently bolstered its stable of production houses with the acquisition of Bwark, the outfit behind comedy hit The Inbetweeners. The Zodiak group comprises over 40 production companies active in 20 countries. UK turnover is up to £132 from £118m last year. Zodiak UK’s indies include: RDF Television The Secret Millionaire, Rock School Diverse Man vs Wild with Bear Grylls, Tribal Wives IWC Media Location, Location, Location Bullseye Gadget Geeks, Park Fear Lucky Day Show Me The Monet, School of Silence Comedy Unit Rab C Nesbitt, Gary: Tank Commander Touchpaper Being Human, Single-Handed Presentable Make Do and Mend, The Poker Lounge The Foundation Waybuloo, Mister Maker, Tricky TV Cornershop, Dangerous, Mast Media
07 Shed Media www.shed-media.com ceo Nick Southgate cfo Jonathon Kemp coo Claire Hungate staff 162 turnover £111m profit £12.7m commissions 35 hrs 122.5 hrs tx’d 166.5 key shows Long Lost Family (ITV) Waterloo Road (BBC1) The Choir (BBC2)
Majority owned by Warner Bros since last summer, Shed Media’s turnover has climbed from £92.6m to £111m in the past year. Shed Media indies include: Shed Productions Waterloo Road Wall to Wall Who Do You Think You Are?, New Tricks Ricochet Cowboy Builders, Born To Be Different Twenty Twenty The Choir, Garrow’s Law
08 Tinopolis www.tinopolis.com exec chairman Ron Jones md Arwel Rees chief exec Mentorn John Willis chairman Sunset+Vine Jeff Foulser staff 450 turnover £75m key shows Question Time (BBC1) Premiership Rugby (ESPN) Japan Tsunami - How It Happened (C4)
Backed by private equity firm Vitruvian Partners, Tinopolis has struck two major deals in the North American market in recent months. The Welsh superindie acquired Sports Science maker Base Productions and Hells Kitchen USA producer A Smith & Co in transactions worth an estimated £100m. The acquisitions bring greater diversity and depth to Tinopolis, which is strong in factual through Mentorn and Pioneer, sport through Sunset + Vine and drama through Daybreak Pictures. Tinopolis’s Llanelli base houses over 150 staff, working on live broadcasts for S4C as well as having a significant interactive department.
Tinopolis’ indies include: Mentorn Question Time, Katie: My Beautiful Friends Daybreak Pictures Sirens, The Promise Pioneer UFO UK, Japan Tsunami: How It Happened Sunset + Vine Test Match Cricket, 2012 Paralympics Fiction Factory Pen Telar, Y Pris
09 Avalon Entertainment www.avalonuk.com mds Jon Thoday, Richard Allen-Turner director of production Joanna Beresford staff 73 turnover £43m commissions 41 hrs 168 key shows Harry Hill’s TV Burp (ITV), Russell Howard’s Good News (BBC3) Saints & Scroungers (BBC1)
Launched back in 1989, Avalon Entertainment’s business empire now spans TV production, talent management, live shows, PR and distribution. Avalon’s talent management arm represents key entertainment names, including David Baddiel, Adrian Chiles, Lee Mack, Al Murray and Frank Skinner, with its TV division making many of their shows and rights operation Avalon Distribution selling them around the world. Avalon has increased its TV production footprint, now owning a range of indies working in factual programming. The Chiswick based outfit rises one place up the Production 100, with turnover up from £35m to £43m. Avalon Entertainment’s indies include: Avalon TV Harry Hill’s TV Burp, Not Going Out Liberty Bell Grumpy Old Men, Three Men In A Boat Tinderbox Tough Gig, TV Now and Then Flame Saints and Scroungers, Heir Hunters Topical Real Rescues, City Hospital 10 DCD Media
www.dcdmedia.co.uk ceo David Green cfo John McIntosh staff 75 turnover £36.3m profit £1.35m commissions 41 hrs 137 hrs tx’d 66 key shows Penn & Teller: Fool Us (ITV1) The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show (CBS TV) Misbehaving Mums To Be (BBC3)
DCD has continued to push into the US over the past year, with ceo David Green saying he plans to achieve 50% of revenues out of America by the end of 2011. By comparison, the UK market has been ‘static’ for the small superindie group with one highlight being new ITV commission Penn & Teller. Looking ahead, Green says he would like DCD, which also has active rights and publishing divisions, to “become part of something bigger”. Veteran chairman David Elstein left DCD in October, as did West Park Pictures boss Andre Singer in February. DCD Media indies include: Done and Dusted Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show September Films Penn & Teller: Fool Us Prospect Shirley Bassey: A Very British Diva, Misbehaving Mums To Be Matchlight The Great Game West Park The Emperor’s Secret Garden
