Memorandum submitted by Big Talk Productions
INTRODUCTION
Big Talk was founded in 1995 by the multi-award
winning producer Nira Park. It has established itself as one of
the UK's leading comedy producers, with an impeccable track record
of developing breakthrough talent, including Simon Pegg, Nick
Frost and Edgar Wright.
Big Talk produced the seminal award winning
television series Spaced, out of which grew the hit films
Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.
Matthew Justice (Hallam Foe, The Russian
Dolls, Blade) joined Big Talk in 2007, to build on
the phenomenal track record of the company. Big Talk has a burgeoning
slate of projects in production and development, across many genres.
Kenton Allen, the award winning comedy producer
has recently also joined the business, to concentrate on developing
its television activities alongside Nira Park and Matthew Justice.
Our film and television titles have been exported
throughout the world and have earned in excess of £200 million
in revenues, across the full panoply of broadcast, exhibition
and distribution platforms, and this success has in turn enabled
us to develop our company into a leading home for British writing
and performing comedy talent.
FACTUAL INFORMATION
In August 2008 BBC Worldwide made a strategic
investment in Big Talk Productions Ltd, the television production
entity under the Big Talk banner. The investment includes a distribution
deal for Big Talk Productions television output throughout the
World, and support for a business plan to enable the company to
grow and expand into new genres, including high quality British
comedy drama and export this output into existing and new marketplaces.
RECOMMENDATIONS TO
CONSIDER
Big Talk has enjoyed considerable domestic and
international success with the projects it produces. It has achieved
this through a careful development and nurturing of writing, acting
and directing talent. All of its productions have been created,
produced and post produced by British talent working in the UK.
We see BBC Worldwide as the pre-eminent distributor
of Television content outside of the US Studios. Prior to concluding
our arrangements with BBC Worldwide, we were approached by a number
of other US and foreign owned suitors. In our view, BBC Worldwide
are the pre-eminent UK distributor for taking UK programmes and
UK formats into the global marketplace. Given that Big Talk wants
to maintain its strong UK identity, getting into business with
BBC Worldwide seemed like the most natural progression for its
business development.
We have assembled an extremely strong creative
and production team here at Big Talk, including Nira Park, Kenton
Allen, Luke Alkin (previously Head of Drama commissioning at Channel
4), Chloe Moss (producer of seminal teen drama Skins),
Simon Curtis (Cranford) and Robert Popper (Peep Show).
Together with the skill and reach of BBC Worldwide we anticipate
creating, producing and distributing some of the UK's most exciting
and innovative content.
CONCLUSION
Our recommendation would be that BBC Worldwide
are continued to be allowed to make small strategic investments
in, and distribution deals with independent production companies,
to promote the long term health of the UK independent production
sector, and thus help prevent the consolidation of this dynamic
and wonderfully creative community into a small number of foreign
owned entities.
October 2008
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