BBC Studios has upped its 25% stake in House Productions to take the full acquisition of the indie.
House Productions, launched in 2016 by former Head of Film 4 Tessa Ross and Working Title TV Head Juliette Howell, is the scripted indie behind titles including Brexit: The Uncivil War, the forthcoming BBC One crime thriller, Sherwood; as well as well as bafta winning Brooklyn director John Crowley’s upcoming Bash Doran adaptation of the Kate Atkinson bestseller Life After Life. House is also producing Sebastian Lelio forthcoming Netflix feature The Wonder starring Florence Pugh and co-produced with Element Pictures. Pre-production has also started in Italy on The Good Mothers, a Star Original for Disney+, which is a co-production with Wildside, written by Stephen Butchard.
House joins BBC Studios’ growing stable of scripted specialists that includes Clerkenwell Films, Lookout Point, Sid Gentle Films and Baby Cow Productions.
Ross and Howell said; “We are really thrilled to have solidified our partnership with BBC Studios in this wholehearted way. We know how lucky we are to have partners in them who share not just our ambition for growth and scale, but also for the way in which we achieve that growth, for the people we work with and the stories we tell. It’s a fantastic time to be creating compelling drama for both the small and big screen that connects with the widest audience across the globe. We’re excited to continue building on this success, with the talented people we are lucky enough to work with, both inside and outside the company.”
BBC Studios Chief Creative Officer Mark Linsey said: “We’re delighted to be taking full ownership of House Productions – which exemplifies bold, British, creativity – and to continue to support Tessa and Juliette’s immense creative ingenuity and vision. Their storytelling and the quality of their productions are outstanding and we are incredibly excited by the content they have in development. House is a strong complement to our existing portfolio of indie labels, further strengthening our TV drama offering and international film industry presence as part of our mission to support the British creative sector and take the very best ideas to audiences around the world.”
House Productions also runs a writer, director and producer mentoring programme, House Residence, supported by BBC Studios.
The deal was negotiated by Laura Franses on behalf of House Productions (advised by Tom Manwaring of Helion Partners) and Matt Garside, Managing Director of Content Partnerships for BBC Studios.
Jon Creamer
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