Endemol, Brooker form prodco

Endemol UK is setting up a new production company with journalist and broadcaster Charlie Brooker and former Zeppotron MD Annabel Jones.

House of Tomorrow will sit within the Endemol UK business and produce drama, comedy series and feature films for the UK and international markets.

Brooker, known for his satirical Channel 4 (C4) drama Black Mirror and Sky1 spoof  A Touch of Cloth, will be the company’s creative director and Jones will be MD.

Brooker was one of the founding creative directors of Zeppotron, which Endemol UK helped to launch in 2000 before acquiring in 2002.

Jones, previously Endemol UK’s head of business development, was MD of Zeppotron between 2004 and 2012, when she stepped down to focus on scripted projects alongside Brooker.

She recently executive produced How Video Games Changed The World for C4, and Weekly Wipe for BBC2, both with Brooker presenting.

House of Tomorrow already has projects in development for broadcasters in the UK and US and further announcements are expected soon.

Jones said: “We’re hoping to build on the international success of Black Mirror and make some bold and distinctive drama that traumatises viewers here and across the Atlantic.”

Black Mirror recently sold to France Télévisions, one of 80 international deals for the series sealed by Endemol Worldwide Distribution that have seen the show air in the US (DirectTV), Germany (RTL Crime), Australia (SBS), Balkans and Eastern Europe (Cinemax 1, Cinemax 2, Amedia).

In March, Endemol UK acquired international drama producer Artists Studio, which was behind drama series The Fall, starring Gillian Anderson.

Endemol is also the subject of an ambitious plan by 21st Century Fox, first disclosed in May, to form a joint venture with Apollo Global Management that would bring it together with Shine Group and Core Media under one umbrella to form a mega-sized global indie.