Sky Studios agrees multi-year development/distribution deals with Free@Last TV and Sagafilm
Sky Studios agrees multi-year development/distribution deals with Free@Last TV and Sagafilm
Sky Studios has entered into development/distribution deals with leading independent production companies Free@Last TV, creator of Sky One’s popular Agatha Raisin series, and Sagafilm, an award-winning Nordic producer.
Under the multi-year deals, Sky Studios’ commercial team will work with each of the production companies to co-develop scripted series for a range of international services, with NBCUniversal Global Distribution handling international sales on the projects.
Free@Last TV, founded by Barry Ryan and David A. Walton in 2001, is a scripted production company based in London, best known for its flagship title Agatha Raisin which has aired on Sky One since 2014, and is now in its third series. Free@Last TV also has a broad range of dramas on its slate including biopics such as Lonely Boy - The Benny Hill Story, Caleb Ranson’s The Women, a crime drama about Britain’s first police women, and a raft of IP based projects, such as Daphne du Maurier’s The Flight of the Falcon which has been adapted by Christopher Villiers.
Founded in Iceland over forty years ago, Sagafilm is now a leading independent producer of scripted, non-scripted, documentary and factual programming in the Nordic region. Having built an impressive roster of Nordic hits, including; Stella Blómkvist, The Night Shift and Case, under CEO Hilmar Sigurdsson and Kjartan Thor Thordarson, CEO Sagafilm Nordic, the firm has recently expanded its slate to include a raft of major drama and documentary projects at leading European, UK and US networks, including the upcoming drama series The Minister (2020) and Thin Ice in co-production with YellowBird (2020).
Jane Millichip, Chief Commercial Officer at Sky Studios, said: “Free@Last and Sagafilm are incredibly smart and creatively distinctive companies. We look forward to working with both teams to bring high quality and internationally attractive series to market.”
David Walton, Joint MD & Creative Director of Free@Last TV, said: “We're very excited to be working with the team at Sky Studios at the beginning of what promises to be a very productive time for content development at Free@Last TV. We have many series in development with international appeal and working with connected partners is the way forwards for us.”
Hilmar Sigurdsson, CEO at Sagafilm, said: “We are proud to have completed this development agreement with Sky Studios. It shows the strength of our development department and is a sound confirmation that our strategies to bring stories to the international market is working. We look forward to delivering exciting new TV Series under this agreement with such a renowned partner as Sky Studios.”
ENDS
Media Contacts
Sky
- Harrison Kelly, Head of Corporate Communications – Harrison.Kelly@sky.uk
Free@Last TV
- Barry Ryan, Joint MD & Creative Director 02088534113 - Barry@freeatlasttv.co.uk
- David Walton, Joint MD & Creative Director 02088534113 David@freeatlasttv.co.uk
Sagafilm
- Hilmar Sigurdsson, CEO at Sagafilm – hilmar@sagafilm.is
- Kjartan Thor Thordarson CEO Sagafim Nordic kjartan@sagafilm.is
About Sky Studios
Sky Studios brings to screen unique stories from the very best talent in Europe.
We develop, produce and fund original drama, comedy and documentary for Sky’s 24m customers and beyond. Building on the success of critically-acclaimed Sky originals including Emmy-nominated Chernobyl, Bafta-winning Patrick Melrose and international hits Babylon Berlin and Riviera, Sky Studios is the new creative home of Sky originals, such as The Third Day with Jude Law, ZeroZeroZero from the makers of Gomorrah and The New Pope directed by Academy Award-winning director Paolo Sorrentino.
We’re an agile Studio, seeking out the best untold stories from new voices while working in creative partnership with today’s best writers, producers and on-screen talent to bring viewers stories they wouldn’t find anywhere else.
With commissioning talent and production capability across the UK, Germany and Italy, we understand local tastes across Europe better than anyone else and have plans to more than double our investment in original content by 2024, fully supported and backed by Comcast NBC Universal.
Sky Studios invests in the cultural economy and global production sector with equity stakes in 10 production companies in the UK and the US, including Great British Bake-Off creator Love Productions, and the premiere reality crime producer in the US, Jupiter Entertainment, creator of long-running hit Snapped. Sky Studios has invested in high quality factual specialists Blast Films and True North Productions; entertainment and format expert Znak & Co (US & UK); natural history producer True to Nature; and growth businesses Sugar Films, Avanti Media, Chrysalis Vision, and Talos Films (US).
Sky Studios launched in June 2019. The senior leadership team is Chief Executive Officer Gary Davey, Chief Commercial Officer Jane Millichip, Chief Finance Officer Caroline Cooper, Director of Drama UK Cameron Roach, Director of Comedy UK Jon Mountague, Director Original Production Sky Italia Nils Hartmann, and Director Original Production Sky Deutschland Marcus Ammon.
