The Stage

Ex-BBC Flims head Thompson ‘not afraid to take risks’ with new TV company

Published Tuesday 10 June 2008 at 15:05 by Matthew Hemley

Former BBC Films chief David Thompson has pledged to make his new independent TV production company a “home for writers and directors” and one that works with the UK’s best new talent.

Called Origin Pictures, the independent company officially opened for business this week and will be led by Thompson, who worked with the BBC for more than 30 years, with Ed Rubin as head of development and Nicola Blacker as production executive.

It will focus on the creation of film and television drama, and Thompson said the company would not be afraid of taking risks when it comes to producing new shows.

He said he was looking for “strong, authored pieces with a distinctive vision” and added: “In my experience, originality and taking risks often yield the most rewards, so we won’t be adverse to taking risks. Over the years, I have done so much work with new talent and I plan to continue that.”

Thompson, who worked on films such as The History Boys and Billy Elliot during his ten-year stint as head of BBC Films, and also executive produced television dramas such as Shoot the Messenger and the forthcoming Einstein and Eddington, told The Stage that he had already started dialogue with writers and had a number of projects in development.

He revealed his company was looking to produce a mix of adaptations and original scripts, and said that one of his goals was to develop a long-running drama series for television.

However, he also stressed he would like to work with new writers on shorter running pieces for television and criticised broadcasters for not making enough space in their schedules for this kind of work.

“A really healthy environment would make a bit more space for original work by new authors. It would be great if that could happen. Obviously the emphasis in this day and age, when it is so competitive, is on longer running pieces and the quality of these series is really good at the moment. Television drama is in good health, but more space for riskier pieces and more space for shorter runs of authored work would be great. I would like to do some of them,” he said.

Origin Pictures, which is based in Denmark Street in London, has launched with a first look deal with BBC Fiction.