BBC Worldwide has increased its stake in Clerkenwell Films, the British production company behind Netflix co-production The End of the F***ing World. The commercial arm of the British public broadcaster has increased its stake from 25% to 48% in the Murray Ferguson-run firm, which also produced series including Misfits and Lovesick. Clerkenwell is the latest production company that BBCWW has increased its ownership stake in; it previously increased ownership of The Trip producer Baby Cow Productions and War and Peace producer Lookout Point. Ferguson said: “After working closely with [BBCWW content chief] Helen Jackson and the BBC Worldwide team for many years we have found them to be astute, supportive and commercially smart in what is now a rapidly evolving and exciting time for scripted content. With Clerkenwell expanding its ambitions and output both at home and abroad, it feels like the right time to be strengthening our links with such a highly respected global business.”
NBC Universal has been named the ‘Company of Distinction’ at this year’s Banff World Media Festival. The Hollywood studio, which has a slew of international operations including Downton Abbey indie Carnival Films in the UK, will be honored at the event in Canada, which runs from June 10 – 13. Past recipients of this award include CBS Corporation, Lionsgate Entertainment, A+E Networks, HBO and the Disney ABC Television Group. “On behalf of everyone at the Banff World Media Festival, it gives us great pleasure to honour them with this well-deserved recognition and we are looking forward to shining a spotlight on them and the brilliant work they do across all of their platforms,” said John Morayniss, Chairman of the Banff Foundation Board of Directors and Co-President, Film, Television and Digital, Entertainment One.
HBO has acquired big-budget fantasy drama Britannia in a raft of European territories after Sky Vision revealed that it has sold the Neal Street Productions and Vertigo Films show in 124 markets. HBO has bought the David Morrissey-fronted drama in Sweden, Norway, Hungary, Denmark, Finland, Poland, the Czech Republic and Spain, while Starz has picked it up for its pan Middle East network. SVOD service iFlix has bought the show across Africa, while Foxtel has bought it in Australia and Hellenic Telecommunication Organisation has acquired it in Greece, Cyprus and Malta. Amazon holds the U.S. rights to the show, which is a co-production with Sky Atlantic.