Red Arrow continues UK buying spree

Germany’s Red Arrow Entertainment has bought into its second UK indie in one month, taking a majority stake in Endor Productions – the prodco behind State of Play.

Endor was set up up Hilary Bevan Jones, whose credits include Not the Nine O’Clock News and Blackadder prior to producing sci-fi series Red Dwarf. She later produced crime series Cracker and teamed up with writer Paul Abbott for thriller State of Play.

Bevan Jones has also won a primetime Emmy for HBO film The Girl in the Café and produced theatrical release The Boat That Rocked for Working Title Films. In 2006, she became the first woman to be named chairman of Bafta.

New projects on Endor’s slate include Restless, written by William Boyd for the BBC. As part of the takeover, its formats and finished programmes will be sold by Red Arrow’s distribution arm, SevenOne International.

Endor joins fellow UK prodco Mob and US-based Fuse among ProSiebenSat.1-owned Red Arrow’s portfolio of drama-based prodcos.

Jan Frouman, Red Arrow group MD, said: “We jumped at the chance to partner with a producer of Hilary’s stature, reputation and sheer likability. She is a tier-one producer in a must-have market. Getting this done was a no-brainer.”

Bevan Jones added: “Red Arrow is perfectly placed to support our exciting and ambitious slate of projects in both film and television.”

Earlier this month, Red Arrow picked up a majority stake in format specialist CPL Productions, which produces panel show A League of their Own for UK satcaster Sky1.