FilmNation strikes TV co-production pact with Britain's High Road
FilmNation has struck a co-production partnership with British indie High Road Entertainment to develop and make television together.
The agreement was reported on 6 October. Under it, High Road will support projects with financing and international market strategy and provide senior production guidance from development through filming, according to Deadline.
Co-production is a shared job. Two organisations split the cost, the risk and the work of getting a show to screen.
High Road is a new outfit. It was launched earlier this year by Richard Tulk-Hart, former co-chief executive of Buccaneer, and James Durie, former head of scripted television at Cineflix.
The organisation advises scripted producers across Europe on financing and distribution, and it is building its own slate of projects, as reported by Deadline. A slate is the industry term for a list of shows in development or production.
Its highest-profile credit so far is Portrait of a Lady. High Road is producing the Gemma Arterton-starring adaptation with Number 9 Films for PBS Masterpiece in the United States, the BBC in Britain and Fox, in association with Beta Film.
That kind of line-up is now normal for period drama. Different broadcasters buy into different territories, which spreads a large budget across several partners.
On the FilmNation side, television is led by head of Television Kirstie Macdonald. Its international TV work includes Prime Video's adaptation of Isabel Allende's novel The House of the Spirits. It also has an adaptation of Graham Norton's book Forever Home in preparation for network 5.
FilmNation is heading into a busy stretch. It plans to expand its slate in 2027 and took two titles to this year's Zurich Film Festival, including a film by Florian Zeller, according to Variety.
What makes this stand out is the division of labour. FilmNation brings development muscle and book titles with readers already attached. High Road brings day-to-day knowledge of how shoots are funded and sold across borders.
For viewers, there is nothing to watch yet. No titles, episode counts or transmission dates have been announced under the new pact. Such partnerships rarely name shows on day one. They settle who pays for what, who sells the series country by country, and who stays with it from script to set.
When those shows are named, that will tell a crew of hundreds whether months of work are ahead, and tell audiences which stories will actually get finished.
