Dominic Buchanan, Bennett McGhee’s Home Team sign first-look with UIS

Dominic Buchanan and Bennett McGhee’s UK prodco Home Team has agreed an exclusive first-look deal with Universal International Studios (UIS).

Dominic Buchanan (left) and Bennett McGhee

The outfit will develop and produce a slate of genre-spanning TV projects with UIS for the UK and global markets. The partnership will focus on spotlighting underrepresented creatives, new voices and emerging on-screen talent.

Projects being developed through the deal include Flick, written by Emilie Robson (Moonlight on Leith), which is described as “part caper, part aching exploration of female friendships, set against the coastal backdrop of North-East England.”

The companies are also in development on a period fantasy series about the Warrior Queen Mother of the Ashanti Empire, Yaa Asantewaa.

The project, co-created by Kara Smith (Anansi Boys, The Baby), Rienkje Attoh (You Don’t Know Me, Noughts + Crosses) and McGhee, weaves together action, magic and drama. It is being produced with Attoh’s company So & So Productions, with Smith also serving as a writer.

Home Team was launched by Buchanan and McGhee in September 2020 with backing from Calculus Capital via the BFI EIS Content Fund. It has a slate spanning television and film and works with filmmakers such as Shola Amoo, Lynette Linton, Courttia Newland, Aneil Karia, Cecile Emeke and Destiny Ekaragha, playwright Omar El-Khairy and director Nadia Latif.

Before launching Home Team, Buchanan coproduced Colette (2018) for Bold Films and was an executive producer on the Channel 4 and Netflix coproduction, The End of the F***ing World. McGhee set up Silvertown Films in 2015 and went on to produce the the film Mogul Mowgli starring Riz Ahmed (The Night Of) and Anjana Vasan (We Are Lady Parts).

“We are massive fans of Dominic and Bennett and admire their taste, approach and energy,” said Beatrice Springborn, president of UIS. “Their mission, ethos and their eye for identifying great talent are why we are thrilled and proud to call them partners.”