Facilities Giant Prime Focus Enters Production Space
Facilities giant Prime Focus has announced a new division, Prime Focus Productions. Headed up by newly-appointed managing director Rod Brown, the division will provide "concept-to-delivery expertise for TV drama productions".
PFP's first project is already underway, an adaptation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman's novel, Good Omens, scripted by Monty Python's Terry Jones and Gavin Scott of Small Soldiers fame. STV is funding script development and will be a co-production partner for the project.
Ex-Mob Film Company partner and executive producer, Rod Brown, joins Prime Focus with 23 years experience in the industry. His credits include Sky 1's Hogfather and the long running Sky drama series Dream Team. His remit is to establish PFP as a leader in TV drama.
"We set up Prime Focus Productions to produce fantastic television drama and we've hit the ground running" explains Brown. "We have moved into development on a number of projects, collaborating with some high-profile names including Sir Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Terry Jones and Sir David Jason. It's exciting to be part of such an ambitious project."
Another project in the PFP pipeline is set to star Sir David Jason and is currently being developed by Caleb Ranson, the writer behind ITV dramas such as Diamond Geezer and Distant Shores. The project will be co-produced by Prime Focus Productions, STV and Shoreline Entertainment.
Joining Brown is creative executive Rebecca Fisher, who began her television and film career as a screenwriter in Sydney for the Australia Broadcasting Corporation. Before joining the Prime Focus Productions team she was creative executive at Infinity Features Entertainment in Vancouver.
Explaining the rationale for the move, Prime Focus UK MD Simon Briggs said: "A production division has been part of our thinking at Prime Focus for a while now but it was about getting the timing right and finding the right people to drive it. I am delighted to have Rod to head this new venture and, with several exciting projects in the pipeline, we already have significant momentum. Our offering provides an end-to-end TV production solution for broadcasters from concept to delivery and is seamlessly supported by Prime Focus' post production and VFX services which now become an integral part of the production process. By utilising our creative teams, our post-production infrastructure and by establishing front-to-end workflows we will be able to effectively manage budgets to ensure true value is seen on the screen."
