While the United Kingdom has plenty to offer in terms of financial incentives, dedicated infrastructure and versatile locations, it also has an incredible number of production companies making exciting film and high-end TV content right across the nations and regions.
Here’s a look at just a few of them.
23ten Productions (Northern Ireland)
Founded in 2015 by producer Martin Brennan, 23ten’s debut production was Aislinn Clarke horror The Devil’s Doorway which premiered in 2018 at Seattle International Film Festival and sold across the world. The company is currently in production on sci-fi thriller Zone 414 (Highland Film Group/Saban Films) starring Guy Pearce, and action thriller One Way, starring Kevin Bacon. (23ten.com)
Bad Wolf (Wales)
Founded in 2015 by Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner, and now with offices in Cardiff and LA, Bad Wolf has become one of the UK’s leading independent producers of high-end TV including His Dark Materials (HBO/BBC), I Hate Suzie (HBO/Sky) and Industry (HBO/Sky) It also founded Wolf Studio, Wales with support from the Welsh Government. (bad-wolf.com)
Black Camel Pictures (Scotland)
Black Camel Pictures have most recently produced Jules Williams’ comedy Off The Rails (Screen Media), Dutch-Luxembourg-UK co-production Repression and TV thriller Annika, starring Nicola Walker, for Alibi. The Glasgow outfit were also involved in the development of horror comedy Anna And The Apocalypse starring Screen / FrightFest Genre Rising Star award-winner Ella Hunt and produced by Blazing Griffin. (blackcamel.co.uk)
The Forge (London)
Since its inaugural production National Treasure (Channel 4/Hulu) in 2018, The Forge has made TV dramas including The Accident for Channel 4, and Roadkill for the Masterpiece/BBC. It’s currently in production with TV movie Help, a Coronavirus drama written by Jack Thorne for One Shoe Films/Channel 4, and eight-part period drama Becoming Elizabeth for Sony/Starz. (theforgeentertainment.co.uk)
Lime Pictures (Liverpool and London)
Based in Liverpool, and with offices in London and LA, Lime Pictures has produced scripted and unscripted series including the Emmy-winning Free Reign and the recent Zero Chill, both for Netflix, and The Evermoor Chronicles for Disney. (limepictures.com)
Mad As Birds (Wales and Northern England)
With offices in Llandudno in North Wales, and The Wirral in Northern England, Mad As Birds made their feature debut with Andy Goddard’s 2014 drama Set Fire To The Stars, starring Elijah Wood. Since then they have produced films including Kristoffer Nyholm’s The Vanishing, and are in post-production on The Almond And The Seahorse starring Rebel Wilson and Charlotte Gainsbourg. (madasbirdsfilms.com)
Moonage Pictures (London)
Founded in 2018 with an aim to create original and inventive television and film, Moonage Pictures has recently produced the Emily Mortimer-directed Amazon/BBC drama The Pursuit Of Love and is working on Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of Brideshead Revisited, for HBO/BBC. (moonagepictures.com)
Out Of Orbit (Northern Ireland)
Belfast’s Out Of Orbit have previously produced Andy Tohill and Ryan Tohill’s BIFA-nominated thriller The Dig and Lisa Barros D’sa and Glenn Leyburn’s Ordinary Love, starring Liam Neeson and Lesley Manville. The company is developing a film and TV slate including Breathing, penned by Ordinary Love screenwriter Owen McCafferty and Harvesting, based on the novel by Lisa Harding. (outoforbit.tv)
Red Production Company (Manchester)
Set up in Manchester in 1998 by Nicola Schindler, Red Production Company has been behind groundbreaking series from Queer As Folk (Channel 4) and Happy Valley (Netflix/BBC) to Years and Years (BBC/HBO), Finding Alice (ITV) and It’s A Sin (HBO Max/ITV) (redproductioncompany.com)
See-Saw Films (London)
Founded in 2008, See-Saw has produced a raft of highly-acclaimed projects such as The King’s Speech, Ammonite and Top Of The Lake. Upcoming projects include John Madden’s Operation Mincemeat with the Cohen Media Group, and Andrew Haigh’s BBC Two series The North Water. (see-sawfilms.com)
Severn Screen (Wales)
With features including Duane Hopkins’ Bypass and Gareth Evans’ Apostle (Netflix) under their belt, as well as recent ITV thriller series The Pembrokeshire Murders, Cardiff-based Severn Screen will next be teaming up with XYZ Films to co-produce Netflix action-thriller Havoc, written and directed by Evans and starring Tom Hardy and Forest Whitaker. (severnscreen.com)
Sigma Films (Scotland)
Glasgow-based Sigma Films has produced international projects including Susanne Bier’s Brothers and After The Wedding, as well as Scottish-based stories like David Mackenzie’s Robert The Bruce biopic Outlaw King and Michael Caton-Jones rowdy 90s-set comedy Our Ladies. (sigmafilms.com)
Six Mile Hill (Northern Ireland)
Chris Baugh’s horror comedy Boys From County Hell, the latest film from Belfast’s Six Mile Hill productions, has enjoyed a successful run on the international festival circuit, and will be released in the UK by Vertigo on August 6. The company also co-produced Baugh’s previous film, Bad Day For The Cut, which saw Brendan Mullins nominated for a Breakthrough Producer award at the British Independent Film Awards (along with co-producer Katy Jackson). (@sixmilehill )
Synchronicity Films (Scotland)
Glasgow’s Synchronicity Films has worked on films including Andrew Haigh’s Weekend and Nadine Labaki’s Capernaum (Sony) as well as TV shows like The Cry (Sundance TV/BBC), and is currently adapting Helen Fitzgerald’s novel Bloody Women into an eight-part thriller. (synchronicityfilms.co.uk)
Two Brothers Pictures (London)
Set up by writer-producer siblings Harry and Jack Williams in 2014, and becoming part of All3Media group in 2017, London’s Two Brothers Pictures produced Phoebe Waller-Bride’s award-winning Fleabag for Amazon and BBC Three. Other productions include The Widow (Amazon/ITV) and HBO/BBC drama The Tourist, starring Jamie Dornan, which is currently filming. (twobrotherspictures.com)
Two Rivers Media (Scotland)
Having produced David Whitney’s recent documentary Killing Escobar, Glasgow-based Two Rivers Media has recently acquired film and TV rights to Tanya Byrne’s unconventional YA love story Afterlove, which will be published in July 2021 by Hodder Children’s Books. (tworiversmedia.co.uk)
Warp Films (Sheffield and London)
Established in 2002 and with offices in Sheffield and London, Warp Films is behind acclaimed British productions including Ben Wheatley’s A Field In England, Jeremy Dyson and Andy Nyman’s Ghost Stories, Shane Meadows’ This Is England series (Channel 4) and the recent Little Birds, an adaptation of Anais Nin’s short stories, for Sky TV. (warpfilms.com)
Wellington Films (Nottingham)
Nottingham-based Wellington Films is responsible for a raft of British independent films including Hope Dickinson’s The Levelling and Matt Palmer’s Calibre. They are currently in development with Marcus Shepherd’s forest thriller A Killing In The Woods. (wellingtonfilms.co.uk)
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