BBC’s Donald launches new prodco

BBC Worldwide’s (BBCWW) exec producer for international drama is launching a drama-focused production company in partnership with UK indie Clerkenwell Films and BBCWW, the pubcaster’s commercial arm.

Ben Donald

Ben Donald’s Cosmopolitan Pictures will focus on developing and producing distinctive and ambitious drama for the UK and international markets. Clerkenwell, which created and produced teen drama Misfits, has entered into a partnership deal with Cosmopolitan that will see it become a coproduction partner on all its projects.

BBCWW will have distribution rights on any future commissions after agreeing an output agreement with Cosmopolitan.

Donald, who has been employed by BBCWW since 2001, will continue to work with the firm to secure funding and will remain a part-time employee at the company, where he will help to raise coproduction finance for various BBCWW drama projects.

He has previously brokered international coproduction agreements on shows including Death in Paradise with France Télévisions; Parade’s End with HBO and Arte France; and The Spies of Warsaw with TV Poland and Arte France.

Donald said the new firm would give him the “opportunity and support to develop and produce my own ideas. This is a logical next step, having learnt from some of the top talent in the business, and in Clerkenwell Films I have the perfect partner.”

BBCWW’s involvement is part of its plan to form partnerships with indies while avoiding investing directly in those companies. It already has a host of first-look deals in place with producers around the world, including one with recently formed Lonesome Pine, founded by former CEO of All3Media’s Lime Pictures, Lesley Douglas.

Helen Jackson, chief content officer at BBCWW, added that the company would benefit from new content being generated and said the launch “makes sense for Ben and BBCWW alike.”

Murray Ferguson, CEO of Clerkenwell Films, said the “experience and ambitions” of Cosmopolitan would make for a “potent force at a time when scripted programming is becoming more and more global-facing.” Ferguson added that it would be “a compelling and complementary addition to Clerkenwell’s own extensive development and production slate.”