BBC Studios has taken a minority stake in Samphire Films, the production company founded by Sophie Leonard and David Hodgkinson.
Samphire Films was founded in 2024 by Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test and Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action creator Sophie Leonard and BBC Documentaries commissioning editor David Hodgkinson to to produce premium unscripted content. Samphire Films is currently in production on “yet-to-be-announced large-scale factual-formats and premium documentary projects for buyers in both the UK and USA.”
BBC Studios has existing investments in indies and labels including House Productions (Conclave, Sherwood) Clerkenwell Films (Baby Reindeer, End of the F***ing World), Sid Gentle Films (Killing Eve) and Voltage (Tempting Fortune, Scoop, Inside The Factory). The strategic partnership will see BBC Studios support Samphire’s growth plans for new channel and “platform-defining” premium documentary and constructed factual brands, taking first look global distribution and format rights.
Prior to co-founding Samphire Films, Sophie Leonard was creative director at Minnow Films where she exec produced over 200 hours of primetime, premium factual television, creating and building series like Special Forces World’s Toughest Test (Fox), SAS: Who Dares Wins and Celebrity Who Dares Wins (C4), and globally successful documentary series Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies and Scandal, and Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action (Netflix).
Prior to co-founding Samphire Films, David Hodgkinson was a commissioning editor at BBC Documentaries where he led a push into the limited series space with a raft of high-profile commissions including Lucan, as well as developing new constructed factual formats and leading on some of the broadcasters biggest documentary brands. Previously he was creative director at Blast Films overseeing series including BAFTA award-wining Liverpool Narcos (Sky Documentaries) and Missing Dead or Alive (Netflix).
Kate Ward, MD for Factual Productions at BBC Studios, says: “Sophie and David are the next generation of creative leaders and we are excited to be backing great British talent. They have a proven track record in delivering ambitious and compelling unscripted television spanning premium documentary to globally renowned factual-formats. Investing in Samphire, which in such a short space of time has built a slate that speaks both to their global ambitions as well as their extraordinary creative breadth was irresistible. We can’t wait to have them as part of the family at BBC Studios and look forward to a hugely productive partnership.”
Sophie Leonard and David Hodgkinson said: “We’ve seen huge demand for our ideas and production expertise from both the US and the UK and sought the right strategic partner to allow us to rapidly scale the business in response. We’re working with leading creative and commercial talent, building a forward-thinking production company to deliver groundbreaking programming that resonates with audiences globally. BBC Studios shares our commitment to innovation and creative excellence, and we can’t wait to see what we can achieve together.”
Samphire Films was supported by Hasham Khan of ABP Advisory and Peter Weiss at SMB.
Jon Creamer
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