The “loose confederation” of Guy Heeley, Paul Webster and Joe Wright operates an agile business model
Need to know: A “loose confederation” consisting of director Joe Wright and producers Guy Heeley and Paul Webster, Shoebox Films specialises in commercial arthouse and director-led projects. Previous films include We Live In Time and The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain (both with SunnyMarch), Bafta TV winner Together, Summerland and Spencer.
Heeley also works independently of Shoebox, producing One Life (with See-Saw), which, along with We Live In Time, made the top five UK indie movies at the worldwide box office in 2024. “It doesn’t have to be a Shoebox Film if that’s going to get in the way, but if it’s going to help, it helps,” says Heeley, who also has a longstanding relationship with Steven Knight, producing Netflix’s upcoming Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man as well as Oasis documentary Oasis Live ’25.
Key personnel: Guy Heeley, Paul Webster, producers; Joe Wright, director.
Incoming: In post is Midwinter Break starring Lesley Manville, based on the novel by Bernard MacLaverty. Developed by Film4 and financed by Focus Features, it is the feature debut of theatre director Polly Findlay and will be released next year.
Projects in development include an adaptation of a 1930s noir novel for Wright to direct, and a semi-sequel to Eastern Promises written by Knight. “It’s a first cousin [to David Cronenberg’s film],” says Heeley.
Stephen Daldry is a regular collaborator and eyeing several projects to direct. They include The Prince Rupert Hotel For The Homeless, adapted by Harry Macqueen from Christina Lamb’s 2022 non-fiction novel about a luxury hotel that opened its doors to rough sleepers during the pandemic, a co-production with the Netherlands’ Submarine in partnership with BBC Film; and film versions of a couple of Daldry-directed plays.
While Los-Angeles-based Webster is, says Heeley, “sitting back”, he exec-produced Paul Andrew Williams’ Tribeca premiere Dragonfly.
Guy Heeley says: “As a company we’re quite cranky, which I think is appealing to people. We can dial in and dial up various talent and writer relationships. We have a very agile business model where it can be a bit of us, or it can be all of us.”
Contact: info@shoeboxfilms.co.uk
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