Sky Studios backs drama prodco

Sky Studios has taken a stake in Longboat Pictures, the TV drama prodco established last year by director Julie Anne Robinson and former ITV commissioner Victoria Fea.

Julie Anne Robinson

The production division of the European satcaster, which was established last summer and is led by Gary Davey, has taken a minority stake in the firm.

Robinson directed theatre and TV productions in the UK (Blackpool, Coming Down the Mountain) before moving to LA. She has worked across comedy and drama as both director (Nurse Jackie, Orange is the New Black, Grace & Frankie, The Good Place) and producer, including 13 network pilots and bringing seven series to the air.

She has also directed studio features and most recently kicked off Bridgerton for Shondaland and Netflix.

Fea spent eight years as senior drama commissioner at UK commercial broadcaster ITV, where she was responsible for series including The Durrells, Marcella, Victoria, Harlots and Unforgotten, as well as serials A Confession, Manhunt, Innocent and Little Boy Blue.

Victoria Fea

Prior to joining ITV, Fea was an exec producer, producer and script editor in the indie sector, working at companies including World Productions and Wall to Wall, and also spent time at the BBC.

Sky Studios’ investment in Longboat follows last month’s announcement of a similar tie-up with UK prodco The Lighthouse and January’s launch of an LA-based unscripted prodco with Jeff Collins.

The investment will provide Longboat with the support to accelerate its growth and strengthen and expand its creative team. The company will continue to produce content for distribution on both Sky networks and third-party platforms.

Sky Studios CEO Davey said: “Longboat Pictures has a wealth of expertise and experience in the drama field, both in the UK and the US. We’re excited to be joining forces with them in this new partnership and bringing viewers world-class, engaging shows.”

Cameron Roach, Sky’s director of drama, added: “We are thrilled to announce the partnership between Longboat and Sky Studios. Victoria and Julie Anne are incredibly well-respected programme makers internationally and have exceptional writer relationships. Their editorial sensibility and their ambition to evolve ambitious, entertaining scripted shows chimes very much with our outlook at Sky Studios.”

In a joint statement, Robinson and Fea said: “We are very happy to be collaborating with Sky Studios at such an exciting time in their development. The world needs entertaining stories more than ever at the moment, and we are looking forward to creating them in our new partnership.”