Boom time for Heggessey

Lorraine Heggessey, executive chair of Boom Pictures, tells Talking Shop about the formation of the new UK independent production company, its first two investments in comedy and drama and how it’s now looking to move into entertainment.

The former BBC1 controller and one-time CEO of TalkbackThames led a management buy-out of stock market-listed Welsh indie Boomerang Plus last July, laying the foundations for Boom.

The move saw Boomerang – headed by Huw Eurig Davies – delist from the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), which “just doesn’t seem to work that well for creative businesses” anymore following the 2007 economic downturn, according to Heggessey.

Boom moved swiftly, investing in Father Ted and IT Crowd creator Graham Linehan’s Delightful Industries. Soon after it announced it was helping ITV drama chiefs Laura Mackie and Sally Haynes set up their own prodco, MainStreet Pictures.

Now, Boom is turning its attentions to the entertainment space. “I’m hoping to find some people to probably start a new label in that area as well,” says Heggessey.

But the intention is to embrace “the original spirit of the independent production sector in the UK,” she adds – a company that occupies a rare midway position between the super-indies and Hollywood studios and small-time players at the lower end of the scale.