PROFILES The Brit 50


Over the next 16 pages, Screen profi les the 50 top fi lm production companies operating in the UK today. We start with some of the industry’s seasoned faces — producers who have been active in one guise or another for many years


CROSSDAY PRODUCTIONS


Peter Czernin and Graham Broadbent BLUEPRINT PICTURES


Need to know Graham Broadbent was a co-founder of Dragon Pictures and Mission Pictures with Damian Jones before team- ing with Peter Czernin to set up Blueprint in 2004. Both Czernin and Broadbent, who each lead on different productions, have strong US studio connections. Blueprint’s credits include Be- coming Jane and Martin McDon- agh’s In Bruges. Key personnel Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin, Sarah Harvey. Incoming John Madden’s antici- pated The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is currently shooting in In- dia, starring Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Bill Nighy and Dev Patel. The fi lm is written by Ol Parker, who is set to direct his script Now Is Good, a UK love story for teens, next March for Blueprint. The company is also develop- ing McDonagh’s next fi lm, aim- ing for a Los Angeles shoot next summer; Simon Beaufoy’s ad- aptation of The Raw Shark Texts and a Frank Cottrell Boyce script about football’s Homeless World Cup, to be co-produced with Co- lin Farrell. Graham Broadbent says “We’re keen to fi nd more conceptual material and exciting fi lm-makers. Our desire is to reach international audiences, especially in North America.” asst@blueprintpictures.com


■ 30 Screen International December 15, 2010


Need to know Pippa Cross and Jan- ette Day’s CrossDay kicked off with 2003’s Shooting Dogs and had a busy 2010 with the release of Heartless, starring Jim Sturgess, and the production of Chalet Girl, starring Ed Westwick, Bill Nighy and Felicity Jones (out in February 2011 via Momentum). In spring 2010, CrossDay saw a “substantial investment” from a sale of 25% of its equity to a high-net-worth indi- vidual not previously affi liated to the fi lm industry. Key personnel Pippa Cross, Janette Day Incoming Tom Williams, writer of Chalet Girl, will do a second project with CrossDay and Ka- leidoscope; Tom Jones, based on Matthew Faulk and Mark Skeet’s script, is casting. Also in develop- ment are romantic black comedy Hughie to be written and directed by Tim Sullivan; an adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s bestselling novel The Vanishing Act Of Esme Lennox; and Belfast-set revenge thriller Wolves In The City, to be written by Jonathan Harren. Pippa Cross says “Our previous credits have been diverse and the intention is to continue to mix scale and market in order to make fi lms we feel really deserve to be made, but with an increased bias to the more mainstream.” info@crossdayproductions.com


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Damian Jones DJ FILMS Pippa Cross


Need to know Damian Jones may be a one-man band, but thanks to strong links with other pro- ducers and talent, he continues to produce high-profi le projects, including his latest, The Iron Lady with Meryl Streep and Jim Broadbent, which is shooting in January and was the talk of AFM. Previously partnered with Gra- ham Broadbent at Mission Pic- tures, Jones went out on his own in 2003 and has racked up an impressive list of credits includ- ing The History Boys, Adulthood and Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll. Key personnel Damian Jones Incoming Jones is teaming up with Noel Clarke for the second time to produce a fi lm about four fe-


male athletes preparing for the 2012 Olympic Games; Fast Girls looks set to shoot next sum- mer. Also on the horizon is a DJ Films/Working Title feature about the Eurovision Song Con- test, written by Tim Firth, as well as Ascension Eagles, based on a real-life UK cheerleading squad, with Big Talk. Damian Jones says “It’s feast or famine, but I think I’ve got re- ally strong projects coming to the fore, due to some exceptional writers, strong ideas and talented directors. And the advantage of working by myself is that it’s not a problem for me to partner up with other companies.” damianjones@djfi lms.co.uk


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