Glue producer Eleven Film has become the first drama indie to win investment from Channel 4.
The deal is the broadcaster’s fifth deal as part of its £20m Growth Fund and will see it take a stake under 25% in the London-based company.
Eleven Film was co-founded by Jamie Campbell and Joel Wilson in 2006 and has produced series including C4’s Cast Offs, BBC1’s Candid Cameron, Sky 1’s My Breasts Could Kill Me and Playhouse Presents: Mr Understood for Sky Arts.
Wilson said the cash injection would “build and even more dynamic and creative team” to increase its drama, comedy and factual output for UK and international broadcasters.
The indie is currently filming a major three-part drama for Sky Living called The Enfield Haunting, starring Timothy Spall, while C4 has ordered a documentary exploring masculinity in the 21st century titled Men In Pubs, using fixed-rig and scripted reality techniques.
It follows C4’s original tranche of investments which it made in late-August, purchasing minority stakes in Live From Space producer Arrow Media and Leeds-based indie True North, as well as factual indie Popkorn TV and multiplatform producer Lightbox.
C4 declined to reveal the terms of investment, but confirmed there was still around three-quarters of its £20m Growth Fund still available for further investments.
Like all the companies winning investment Eleven Film will not benefits from minimum guarantees on commissions.
C4 chief executive David Abraham said Eleven Film “perfectly represented” the ambition of the Growth Fund to support the growth of creative companies.
“Jamie and Joel are young, dynamic TV executives who have worked themselves up from grassroots level to establish a multi-genre production company,” he said. “We hope through our investment we can help them increase their stronghold in the UK and US particularly in the competitive drama arena.”
Head of fund and former Nutopia executive Laura Franses added: “They’re our first drama indie and while a young company, they have incredible maturity and depth of creative vision, coupled with a strong strategic direction.”
C4 is expected to name as assistant to Franses imminently to oversee Growth Fund operations as the strategy ramps up, with the next investment expected before the end of Q1 2015.
The Growth Fund was described by Abraham as an attempt to “re-seed the indie sector”, while his keynote MacTaggart speech at the Edinburgh Television Festival had an emphasis on C4’s relationship with the production sector in times of increasing consolidation.
C4 will continue to take submissions from independent producers interested in investment. UK-based companies can register their interest to growthfund@channel4.co.uk.
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