UK producer Christine Alderson (who co-produced Berlinale hit Irina Palm) has spearheaded the launch of a new UK micro-studio. Moxie Makers joins together Alderson's production company Ipso Facto Films with sales company Moviehouse Entertainment and UK distributor Soda Pictures to work on a slate of up to four low-budget features per year.

Moviehouse is starting sales here at AFM on Moxie's first two projects: Avie Luthra's Mad, Sad & Bad and Alan G Parker's Who Killed Nancy'

Mad, Sad & Bad is an Asian-British family comedy to star Meera Syal and Nitin Ganatra. Alderson will produce alongside Bex Hopkins.

Luthra's 2005 short film Lucky was nominated for a BAFTA and shortlisted for an Oscar (he is a former Screen International Star of Tomorrow). That project starts shooting in Luton in late November.

Who Killed Nancy' is a documentary/drama to be produced by Ben Timlett and Allison Dore for delivery in summer 2008. The project will take a new look at the story of Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen.

Interviewees will include Malcolm McLaren, Glen Matlock and Don Letts. Film-makers have access to previously unheard Sex Pistols recordings. Author Parker previously directed Never Mind The Sex Pistols.

The scheme will concentrate on films with budgets under $2m (£1m), and will welcome work by first-time directors.

'Lots of people make micro-budget films, but they don't always get seen,' Alderson told Screen International. 'We wanted it to be market-driven from the beginning.'

The third film Moxie plans is Souled Out, Shimy Marcus' coming-of-age film set against the Northern Soul movement. It will shoot in April or May 2008.

That cast features Gerard Kearns of Shameless, Martin Compston, Jennifer Ellison, Amanda Brewster and Pat Shortt. Alderson will produce with Natasha Carlish, and Screen East is also backing.

Outside of Moxie, Ipso Facto is also in development on Nicolas Winding Refn's Valhalla Rising, boxing story Carrying David with Tom Hardy and Natalie Press, psychological thriller Ling Ling with Patrick Jolley, and Cath Le Couteur's road movie Tayte and Cody.

The Moxie scheme is also supported by post-production company Molinaire and UK regional local government fund Entrust.

'This vertical integration will deliver audience driven feature films and allow everyone involved to share both the risk and the rewards of feature filmmaking,' the partners said in a statement.

Moxie is the newest in the UK's growing low-budget schemes, also including Warp X, Film London's Microwave, and the low-budget studio model set up by producers Slingshot.

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