Formerly | Celador |
---|---|
Industry | Television, film and theatre production, music publishing, radio station operation |
Founded | December 1981 |
Founder | Paul Smith CBE |
Headquarters | , United Kingdom |
Area served | United Kingdom and overseas |
Brands | Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Slumdog Millionaire The Descent Winning Lines |
Services | Television production Broadcast syndication Light entertainment Motion picture production Commercial radio Music publishing Mobile entertainment |
Owner | ProSiebenSat.1 Media |
Parent | Seven.One Studios |
Subsidiaries | Celador Films Celador Theatrical Productions Lusam Music |
Website | Official website |
CPL Productions (formerly Celador) is an independent television and radio production company run by Danielle Lux, Murray Boland and Janet Oakes. [1] It was formed in the United Kingdom in 1981 as an independent television production company. It created and produced a number of popular light entertainment shows and is best known for the TV format Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and the film Slumdog Millionaire which, in 2009, collected seven BAFTAs, four Golden Globes and eight Oscars including Best Director and Best Picture. [2]
The name Celador is a re-spelling of "cellar door", a phrase whose sound is often noted to be particularly euphonious.
Formerly known as Celador, the company was founded by Paul Smith and included Jasper Carrott as one of its founder shareholders. After establishing itself as a leading UK production company it expanded into TV format licensing, film production and radio station ownership and operation. By 2006, Celador was owned by Complete Communications Corporation, a firm which Smith (who owned 18%) wanted to break up so he could concentrate on radio and film production. Managing director and former 1990s Top of the Pops presenter Adrian Woolfe [3] wanted to buy the television division outright as part of a management buyout with Danielle Lux, but this was split into parts with Lux completing the buy-out of Celador Productions without Woolfe and the rights to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? . In 2009, Celador Productions re-named to CPL, before becoming a division of ProSieben's Seven.One Studios in 2012 (formerly Red Arrow Studios).
Celador International and the rights and associated properties of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? were acquired by Dutch group 2waytraffic, eventually becoming part of Sony Pictures Television. In 2004, Celador commenced legal action against The Walt Disney Company for what it claimed were unpaid profits from the American version of the programme, licensed by Disney for its ABC TV channel. At a jury trial in Los Angeles in June 2010, Celador was awarded $269m (£177m) in damages after the jury ruled that it failed to receive a fair share of profits. [4]
As of 2022, CPL Productions is making a new version of You Are What You Eat with Trisha Goddard and Amir Khan for Channel 5 and has teamed up with the Ranga Bee [5] production company to make a six-part comedy series, written and created by Romesh Ranganathan and Benjamin Green for BBC Studios, [6] called Avoidance.
Celador previously owned twenty-seven UK commercial radio stations including The Breeze and Sam FM networks and Fire Radio. In January 2017 Celador Radio acquired Anglian Radio's five stations (North Norfolk Radio, Radio Norwich, The Beach, Town 102 and Dream 100) which broadcast across the Anglian region. [34] In 2019 Celador Radio disposed of its entire radio division to Bauer Media. [35]
The final portfolio comprised the following radio stations, which were sold to Bauer Radio in February 2019.
Paul Smith is chairman of Celador Entertainment Limited which is the parent company for Celador Films, Celador Radio, Celador Theatrical and Lusam Music.
Ellis Watson was the CEO until 2003. Following the new structure of Celador's previous constituent divisions, Celador Productions, (renamed CPL Productions) is now run by managing director (since 2003) Danielle Lux. Christian Colson left Celador Films as Managing Director in 2009 to form Cloud Nine Films, now renamed Cloud Eight Films.
In the last few years, former managing director Adrian Woolfe [37] has teamed up with Claudia Rosencrantz, [38] the person who commissioned Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? originally at ITV, to launch the Studio 1 production company and an entertainment news network called LIT, [39] [40] [41] which has been available to stream via Peacock since January 2021.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Television, contestants tackle a series of multiple-choice questions to win large cash prizes in a format that twists on many game show genre conventions – only one contestant plays at a time, similar to radio quizzes; contestants are given the question before deciding whether to answer, and have no time limit to answer questions; and the amount offered increases as they tackle questions that become increasingly difficult. The maximum cash prize offered in most versions of the format is an aspirational value in local currency, such as one million pounds in the UK or 75 million rupees in India.
Daniel Francis Boyle is an English director and producer. He is known for his work on films including Shallow Grave, Trainspotting and its sequel T2 Trainspotting, The Beach, 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, Steve Jobs, and Yesterday.
Robert Norman Davis, best known by his stage name, Jasper Carrott, is an English comedian, actor, and television presenter. He starred in the sitcoms The Detectives and All About Me, and presented the game show Golden Balls.
The Breeze (Bristol) was an Independent Local Radio station serving Bristol.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a British television quiz show, created by David Briggs, Steven Knight & Mike Whitehill for ITV. The programme's format sees contestants taking on multiple-choice questions based upon general knowledge, winning a cash prize for each question they answer correctly, with the amount offered increasing as they take on more difficult questions. If an incorrect answer is given, the contestant will leave with whatever cash prize is guaranteed by the last safety net they have passed, unless they opt to walk away before answering the next question with the money the cash prize they had managed to reach. To assist in the quiz, contestants are given a series of "lifelines" to help answer questions.
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is an American television game show based on the format of the same-titled British program created by David Briggs, Steven Knight and Mike Whitehill and developed in the United States by Michael Davies. The show features a quiz competition with contestants attempting to win a top prize of $1,000,000 by answering a series of multiple-choice questions, usually of increasing difficulty. The program has endured as one of the longest-running and most successful international variants in the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? franchise.
Tindle Radio is a media company which owns commercial radio stations and a DAB multiplex business in the Channel Islands and the Republic of Ireland. It has its head office in Farnham, Surrey, shared with Tindle Newspapers.
2waytraffic was a television production company based in Hilversum, Netherlands. It was established in 2004 by former Endemol executives Kees Abrahams, Unico Glorie, Taco Ketelaar, and Henk Keilman. It currently has offices in London, New York, Budapest, Stockholm, and Madrid.
Matthew Strachan was an English composer and singer-songwriter.
Easy Radio South Coast is an Independent Local Radio station based in Southampton, England, owned and operated by Nation Broadcasting. It broadcasts to the South Coast of the England.
Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 British drama film that is a loose adaptation of the novel Q & A (2005) by Indian author Vikas Swarup. It narrates the story of 18-year-old Jamal Malik from the Juhu slums of Mumbai. Starring Dev Patel in his film debut as Jamal, and filmed in India, the film was directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and produced by Christian Colson, with Loveleen Tandan credited as co-director. As a contestant on Kaun Banega Crorepati, an Indian-Hindi version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Jamal surprises everyone by being able to answer every question correctly, winning ₹2 crore. Accused of cheating, Jamal recounts his life story to the police, illustrating how he is able to answer each question correctly.
Nation Broadcasting is a British media company headquartered in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. It currently owns and operates twelve Independent Local Radio stations across the United Kingdom.
"Jai Ho" is a song composed by A. R. Rahman for the 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire. When Danny Boyle, the director of Slumdog Millionaire, approached Rahman to compose its soundtrack, he included the song. "Jai Ho" accompanies a choreographed dance sequence at the end credits of the film. Indian singer Tanvi Shah wrote and provided vocals for an English section of the song. "Jai Ho" is a phrase which can be roughly translated as "Let [the] victory prevail", "Let there be victory", or "May there always be victory".
A League of Their Own is a British sports-based comedy panel game that was first broadcast on Sky One on 11 March 2010. The show is currently hosted by Romesh Ranganathan and features Jamie Redknapp and Jill Scott as team captains and Micah Richards and Mo Gilligan as regular panellists.
The Breeze (Bath) was an Independent Local Radio station serving Bath, Somerset.
The Breeze was a network of Independent Local Radio stations broadcasting to Bristol, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Somerset, North Dorset, North Gloucestershire, North Somerset, South Devon, South West Surrey, West Berkshire and West Wiltshire, as well as in East Anglia as Radio Norwich 99.9, The Beach, North Norfolk Radio, Town 102 and Dream 100. The stations broadcast a 'contemporary easy listening' format, playing classic and recent melodic popular music aimed principally at listeners over the age of 40.
Jonathan Romesh Ranganathan is an English actor, radio host and stand-up comedian. He is known for his deadpan, often self-deprecating humour.
Cloud Eight Films is a British production company founded on 19 December 2008 by Christian Colson, based in London, England. It is known for film such as 127 Hours, Selma and Steve Jobs and currently owns a sister production company named Selma Films.
Lisa McGrillis is a British actress.
Avoidance is a British comedy drama television series made for BBC One starring Romesh Ranganathan, Lisa McGrillis, Mandeep Dhillion, Jessica Knappett and Kieran Logendra. The show consisted of six episodes and was broadcast in consecutive weeks from 10 June 2022. A second series was commissioned in May 2023.