Left Bank Pictures

Last updated

Left Bank Pictures Ltd.
Formerly
  • Tonto Film And Television Ltd (Nov–Dec 2006) [1]
  • Geronimo Film and TV Limited (2006–2007) [1]
Company type Subsidiary
Industry
  • Television
  • Film
FoundedJuly 2007;17 years ago (July 2007) [2]
Founder
Headquarters
London
,
England
Key people
  • Andy Harries
  • Marigo Kehoe
  • Suzanne Mackie
  • Michael Casey
  • Grace Wilson
  • Simon Lupton
  • Thomas Messer
Products
  • Television programs
  • Feature films
Parent Sony Pictures Television (2012–present)
Website leftbankpictures.co.uk

Left Bank Pictures Ltd. [1] (stylised as LEFT BANK Pictures) is a British film and television production company owned by Sony Pictures Television. It was formed in 2007 [2] and was the first British media company to receive investment from BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC.

Contents

Left Bank Pictures' productions include the television series Wallander , Strike Back , DCI Banks and Outlander . Their production, The Crown , is the first British-American television series produced exclusively for Netflix. The series' first season was released on 4 November 2016.

History

Left Bank founders Marigo Kehoe (centre) and Andy Harries (right) with Wallander star Kenneth Branagh (left) in July 2009 Branagh and Left Bank.jpg
Left Bank founders Marigo Kehoe (centre) and Andy Harries (right) with Wallander star Kenneth Branagh (left) in July 2009

Left Bank Pictures was founded in 2007 by Andy Harries, formerly controller of drama, comedy and film at Granada Productions, Francis Hopkinson and Marigo Kehoe. [2] The company was the first British media company to receive equity investment from BBC Worldwide, the commercial venture of the BBC. BBC Worldwide took a 25% stake, worth £1 million, in Left Bank in exchange for first-look distribution rights on all television productions, [3] in a five-year deal. [4]

In December 2008, Left Bank Pictures was one of many independent production companies to receive the production vision award from the UK Film Council. [5] The award part-funded Left Bank's film development slate. In February 2009, Suzanne Mackie, formerly head of development at Harbour Pictures, joined the company as head of film. [6]

Hopkinson announced his departure in 2011 to take up a new position with ITV Studios. Michael Casey joined the company, taking on the development slate, and Simon Lupton joined the comedy department. [7] The company was put up for sale for £40 million on 6 April 2012. [4] [8] On 5 July 2012, Sony Pictures Television made a deal to acquire Left Bank for £40 million. [9] The sale was completed on 23 August 2012, with SPT becoming the majority shareholder, and BBC Worldwide, Harries and Kehoe reducing their stake in the company. BBC Worldwide reduced its stake from 25% to 12.2%. [10]

Productions

Left Bank Pictures' first television commission was Wallander , a television adaptation of Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander novels. The first series was filmed on location in Skåne, Sweden in the summer of 2008, and broadcast in November and December 2008. [11] The series won the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series. [12] The BBC announced the commissioning of a second series in May 2009. [13] Filming ran over the summer again and the series was broadcast in January 2010. The final series as broadcast in 2016.

In March 2008, it was announced that Left Bank would be producing Strike Back , a six-part series for Sky1 based on Chris Ryan's novel. [14] The production, starring Richard Armitage and Andrew Lincoln, was filmed on location in South Africa in 2009 for broadcast on Sky1 and Sky1 HD in 2010. [15] Also in 2008, Left Bank produced its first feature film; The Damned United was directed by Tom Hooper from a script adapted by Peter Morgan from David Peace's novel The Damned Utd .

2008 also saw Left Bank's first commission for Channel 4; Kids School of Comedy, a pilot sketch show, was produced for the Comedy Lab strand, and was based on a stage show in which Andy Harries' son performed. A six-part School of Comedy series was commissioned by E4 and was broadcast in 2009. [16] A second series has since been commissioned. At the end of 2008, Left Bank received its first commission from ITV, to produce Frank Deasy's four-part serial drama Father & Son . [17] The drama was co-financed by ITV, the Irish broadcaster RTÉ and the Irish Film Board. The production was based in Dublin, where most of the programme was filmed, even though it was set in Manchester, England. [18] RTÉ broadcast the drama in 2009, and it went on to win the Irish Film and Television Award for Best Single Drama/Drama Serial category. [19] It was broadcast on ITV1 in June 2010.

In 2009, Left Bank produced the six-part romantic comedy series Married Single Other for ITV. [20] The series stars Ralf Little, Shaun Dooley, Lucy Davis, Miranda Raison, Amanda Abbington and Dean Lennox Kelly, and was filmed on location in Leeds. It was broadcast on ITV1 in February and March 2010. [21] [22] In 2010, Left Bank produced an adaptation of Peter Robinson's Aftermath for ITV, starring Stephen Tompkinson as DCI Banks, [23] [24] and Zen , an adaptation of three of Michael Dibdin's Aurelio Zen novels, which was filmed on location in Italy for BBC Scotland. [25] In 2011, Sky1 broadcast the first series of Left Bank's Mad Dogs , starring John Simm, Philip Glenister, Marc Warren and Max Beesley. In 2012 Optimum Releasing distributed the feature film All in Good Time . [26] [27]

Filmography

Television

Film

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hat Trick Productions</span> British independent TV production company

Hat Trick Productions Limited is an independent British production company that produces television and radio programmes, mainly specialising in comedy, based in London. The company's logo is depicted as a rabbit pulling a man out of a hat instead of the other way around.

Kudos is a British film and television production company. It has produced television series for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky, Amazon and Netflix and its productions include Tin Star, Humans, Broadchurch, The Tunnel, Grantchester, Apple Tree Yard, Utopia,Spooks, Hustle and Life on Mars/Ashes to Ashes. In 2007 it was voted Best Independent Production Company by Broadcast magazine. Formed in 1992, since 2007 it has been part of the Shine Group. In 2007 it also set up the film unit, Kudos Pictures. In 2011, the Shine Group was 100% acquired by News Corporation and was part of the 50-50 joint-venture Endemol Shine Group. On 3 July 2020, France-based Banijay bought the studio through former's acquisition of Endemol Shine Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jane Tranter</span> English television executive (born 1963)

Pauline Jane Tranter is an English television executive who was the executive vice-president of programming and production at BBC Worldwide's Los Angeles base from 2009 until 2015. From 2006 to 2008, she was the BBC's controller of fiction; in this capacity she oversaw the corporation's output in drama and comedy, as well as films and programmes acquired from overseas, across all BBC TV channels. Critics were concerned that the BBC had invested too much creative power in one person, and following Tranter's move to the United States, the position of controller of fiction was abolished and the responsibilities divided up among four other executives.

Carnival Film & Television Limited, trading as Carnival Films, is a British production company based in London, UK, founded in 1978. It has produced television series for all the major UK networks including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Sky, as well as international broadcasters including PBS, A&E, HBO and NBC. Productions include single dramas, long-running television dramas, feature films, and stage productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tiger Aspect</span> British television production company

Tiger Aspect Productions is a British television and film production company, particularly noted for its situation comedies. Founded by Peter Bennett-Jones, its productions have included popular hits such as Mr. Bean and The Vicar of Dibley. The present-day company was founded in 1993 from the merger of Bennett-Jones' Tiger Television and Paul Sommers' Aspect Film & Television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lime Pictures</span> British television production company

Lime Pictures, formerly known as Mersey Television, is a British television production company, founded by producer and writer Phil Redmond in the early 1980s. It produces drama and entertainment shows for the international market, including Hollyoaks, The Only Way is Essex, Geordie Shore and Free Rein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ashley Jensen</span> Scottish actress and narrator (born 1969)

Ashley Jensen is a Scottish actress. She is best known for her roles as Maggie Jacobs in Extras, Christina McKinney in Ugly Betty (2006–2010), Agatha Raisin in Agatha Raisin (2014–present), and DI Ruth Calder in Shetland (2023–present).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Productions</span> Film production company

World Productions Limited is a British television production company, founded on 20 March 1990 by acclaimed producer Tony Garnett, and owned by ITV plc following a takeover in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hermione Norris</span> British actress

Hermione Norris is an English actress. She attended the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in the 1980s, before taking small roles in theatre and on television. In 1996, she was cast in her breakout role of Karen Marsden in the comedy drama television series Cold Feet. She appeared in every episode of the series from 1998 to 2003 and was nominated for a British Comedy Award.

Christine Langan is an English film producer who was appointed Head of BBC Films in 2009. In 2016, she left the role to become CEO of comedy television production company Baby Cow Productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenton Allen</span> British television producer and executive

Kenton Allen is a British television producer and executive. He became Chief Executive of Big Talk Studios in September 2008. He is a multi-award–winning programme-maker with credits including the BAFTA Award-winning sitcoms The Royle Family and Rev. and the Oscar-winning film Six Shooter. He was the Advisory Chair of the Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Harries</span> British producer (born 1954)

Andrew Harries is chief executive and co-founder of Left Bank Pictures, a UK based production company formed in 2007. In a career spanning four decades he has produced television dramas including The Royle Family,Cold Feet, the revivals of Prime Suspect and Cracker, as well as the BAFTA-winning television play The Deal.

The first series of the British comedy-drama television series Cold Feet was first broadcast on the ITV network from 15 November to 20 December 1998. The six episodes were written by series creator Mike Bullen, produced by Christine Langan, and directed by Declan Lowney, Mark Mylod and Nigel Cole. It follows the award-winning pilot episode, broadcast in 1997. The storylines focus on three couples: Adam Williams and Rachel Bradley, Pete and Jenny Gifford, and David and Karen Marsden. They are played by James Nesbitt, Helen Baxendale, John Thomson, Fay Ripley, Robert Bathurst and Hermione Norris respectively.

<i>Wallander</i> (British TV series) British television series

Wallander is a British television series broadcast from 2008 to 2016. It was adapted from a Swedish series based on the Swedish novelist Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander novels and starring Kenneth Branagh as the eponymous police inspector. It was the first time the Wallander novels had been adapted into an English-language production. Yellow Bird, a production company formed by Mankell, began negotiations with British companies to produce the adaptations in 2006. In 2007 Branagh met Mankell to discuss playing the role. Contracts were signed and work began on the films, adapted from the novels Sidetracked, Firewall and One Step Behind, in January 2008. Emmy-award-winning director Philip Martin was hired as lead director. Martin worked with cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle to establish a visual style for the series.

Yellow Bird is a Swedish film and television production company. In 2003 Danish producer Ole Søndberg and Swedish author Henning Mankell started a collaboration on a series of television films based on Mankell’s famous fictional detective Kurt Wallander and Yellow Bird was born. The success of the initial Wallander films was followed by Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, Jo Nesbø’s Headhunters, Liza Marklund’s Annika Bengtzon series as well as the British version of Wallander starring Kenneth Branagh.

Ian Johnson is a public relations manager based in London, specialising in online, television and film publicity. Since launching IJPR in 2006 the company has launched global publicity, social media and awards campaigns for shows as diverse as Killing Eve, The Crown, Call The Midwife, His Dark Materials, Friday Night Dinner and The Missing.

Father & Son is a four-part Irish television crime thriller produced by Left Bank Pictures and Octagon Films. The series was broadcast in the Republic of Ireland on RTÉ One and in the United Kingdom on ITV.

<i>DCI Banks</i> British television crime drama series

DCI Banks is a British television crime drama series produced by Left Bank Pictures for the ITV network. Originally broadcast over five series in 2010–2016, the series was based on Peter Robinson's Inspector Alan Banks novels and stars Stephen Tompkinson as Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks. In 2013, the series won in the drama category at the regional Royal Television Society Yorkshire Programme Awards.

Little Crackers is a British Christmas comedy-drama that was broadcast on Sky1. It consists of a series of short films featuring British and Irish comedians and actors, including people like Stephen Fry, Catherine Tate, Chris O'Dowd, Kathy Burke, Victoria Wood, and Bill Bailey. According to Sky Television, the show marked the start of their biggest investment in British comedy during Sky1's twenty-year history. The success of the first series led Sky to renew the show for a second series, which began airing on 18 December 2011. The comedians involved in the second series included Harry Hill, Sheridan Smith, Sanjeev Bhaskar, John Bishop, Shappi Khorsandi and Jack Whitehall.

<i>Mad Dogs</i> (British TV series) British black comedy and psychological thriller television series

Mad Dogs is a British psychological thriller television series, written and created by Cris Cole, that began airing on Sky1 on 10 February 2011, and ended on 29 December 2013 after four series and 14 episodes. It is produced by Left Bank Pictures, and co-produced by Palma Pictures. The series stars John Simm, Marc Warren, Max Beesley, and Philip Glenister as four long-time and middle-aged friends getting together in a villa in Majorca to celebrate the early retirement of their friend Alvo. After Alvo is murdered, the group find themselves caught up in the world of crime and police corruption.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Left Bank Pictures Ltd. overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK". Companies House . 1 November 2006. Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 Announcing LEFT BANK PICTURES a unique collaboration of film & television talent (10 May 2007) Press release. URL retrieved on 17 May 2008.
  3. ↑ Harries, Andy (October 2008). "Memorandum submitted by Left Bank Pictures". Parliament of the United Kingdom. URL retrieved on 27 November 2008.
  4. 1 2 Rushton, Katherine (6 April 2012). "Left Bank Pictures put up for sale at £40m". The Daily Telegraph (Telegraph Media Group). URL retrieved on 6 April 2012.
  5. ↑ [Staff] (11 December 2008). "Over £2 million Lottery funding awarded to UK production companies to make new British films Archived 29 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine ". UK Film Council. URL retrieved on 24 March 2009.
  6. ↑ Clarke, Steve (25 February 2009) "Mackie moves to Left Bank". Variety (Reed Business Information). URL retrieved on 25 February 2009.
  7. ↑ Pickard, Michael (13 May 2011). "Left Bank makes comedy, drama hires". C21media.com. URL retrieved on 13 May 2011.
  8. ↑ "The Telegraph" Left Bank Pictures put up for sale at £40m telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 7 September 2012
  9. ↑ Jake Kanter "Screen Daily" SPT poised to snap up £40m Left Bank Screen Daily, retrieved on 17 December 2013
  10. ↑ "The Telegraph" Sony takes stake in Left Bank telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 7 September 2012
  11. ↑ Martin, Philip (26 November 2008). "On location: Wallander". Broadcast (Emap Media). URL retrieved on 26 November 2008.
  12. ↑ "Television Awards Winners in 2009 Archived 27 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine ". British Academy of Film and Television Arts. URL retrieved on 24 March 2009.
  13. ↑ BBC Press Office (5 May 2009). "Shooting begins on three new feature-length adaptations of BAFTA Award-winning drama Wallander, starring Kenneth Branagh". Press release. URL retrieved on 5 May 2009.
  14. ↑ Holmwood, Leigh (19 March 2008). "Sky ploughs £10m into HD dramas". guardian.co.uk (Guardian News & Media). URL retrieved on 12 September 2008.
  15. ↑ Holmwood, Leigh (24 August 2009). "This Life's Andrew Lincoln to star in Sky1 adaptation of Strike Back". guardian.co.uk (Guardian News & Media). URL retrieved on 24 March 2010.
  16. ↑ Parker, Robin (12 September 2008). "E4 opens School of Comedy". Broadcastnow (Emap Media). URL retrieved on 12 September 2008.
  17. ↑ Holmwood, Leigh (7 October 2008). "Queen producer Andy Harries to make drama for former employer ITV". guardian.co.uk (Guardian News & Media). URL retrieved on 24 March 2010.
  18. ↑ Canning, Fiona (25 June 2009). "'Father & Son' Drama Premieres on RTÉ". Irish Film & Television Network. URL retrieved on 16 July 2009.
  19. ↑ "Winners of the 7th Annual Irish Film & Television Awards". Irish Film & Television Awards. URL retrieved on 21 February 2010.
  20. ↑ McMahon, Kate (25 February 2009). "Mackie reunites the Cold Feet team for rom-com". Broadcast (Emap Media). URL retrieved on 25 February 2009.
  21. ↑ "Married Single Other Archived 26 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine ". Screen Yorkshire. URL retrieved on 24 March 2010.
  22. ↑ [Staff] (12 February 2010). "Married Single Other: Leeds landmarks feature on TV show". Yorkshire Evening Post (Johnston Publishing). URL Retrieved 12 February 2010.
  23. ↑ Allen, Katie (20 July 2009). "Bank on it [ permanent dead link ]". The Bookseller. URL retrieved on 24 March 2010.
  24. ↑ Webb, Sam (31 March 2010). "Stephen Tompkinson to star in ITV drama". Digital Spy. URL retrieved on 31 March 2010.
  25. ↑ BBC Press Office (18 February 2010). "Rufus Sewell confirmed to play Aurelio Zen for BBC One". Press release. URL retrieved on 23 February 2010.
  26. ↑ Deans, Jason (5 May 2010). "John Simm and Philip Glenister to star in Sky1's Mad Dogs". guardian.co.uk (Guardian News & Media). URL retrieved on 6 May 2010.
  27. ↑ Cooper, Sarah (16 September 2010). "Rafta Rafta". ScreenDaily.com (Emap Media). URL retrieved on 3 January 2011.
  28. ↑ "Winners 2011 [ permanent dead link ]". Emap Awards. URL retrieved on 5 February 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.