EXCLUSIVE: UK producer Ian Davies has left documentary specialist Noah Media Group to reboot Initialize Films, the production and finance company he originally founded in 2005.
Initialize has a background of producing, financing and packaging documentary and fiction feature films. Previous titles include Carol Morley’s The Falling, starring Florence Pugh and Maisie Williams, and Yann Demange’s thriller ’71 starring Jack O’Connell.
Marion Simon was running Initialize while Davies stepped back.
Davies plans to launch a fund later this year, titled Trailblazers, having recognised interest by the private sector in backing film. He previously co-created Boudica, the production and finance house for female-driven films.
“Like most film funds this will be predominantly senior debt, but we hope to have some gap and development allocation,” said Davies. The fund aims to have around £1m per year to help back around six films and will be open for submissions from November 2025.
He expects Initialize to be in production on six to eight films in the next year, boarding two projects as co-producer in Cannes – Ari Matikainen’s feature doc The Game Of Chaos, about opaque forms of warfare, with Finnish doc specialist Kinocompany and Estonian production company Traumfabrik, which has support from Finnish Film Foundation, Estonian Film Fund and YLE; and Vala Ómarsdóttir’s fiction feature Just A Kid, with producer Hlin Johannesdottir which is backed by the Icelandic Film Centre.
While senior producer for film at UK outfit Noah Media Group from 2022-25, Davies produced SXSW premieres I’m Carl Lewis! and Snow Leopard Sisters, Tribeca title Checkpoint Zoo and co-executive produced boxing documentary Hatton for Sky.
“I’m delighted to be taking up the reins at Initialize again,” said Davies. “There are some fantastic international co-production opportunities and the new IFTC [Independent Film Tax Credit] is a game-changer for many private investors.
“Our strength is in the many international contacts built up over 20 years, after working with several national film funds as consultants. Co-productions are at the heart of our business model.”
Davies concluded a further co-production deal at Sheffield DocFest with UK production company Perfectmotion, producer of Thessaloniki premiere Off The Rails, on an untitled racing driver documentary project directed by Rob Alexander which is in the last stages of filming.
“We should have two or three more sports films in play this year,” said Davies, following his experience with I’m Carl Lewis!, Hatton and the David Miller cycling doc, Time Trial. “Sports film production is a very crowded market, but there are a lot of fantastic stories still to be told, and understandably, archive rights holders are keen for those stories to be told too.”
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