Channel 4 announces fifth Growth Fund investment - Eleven Film

17 November 2014

Channel 4 today announced the corporation has invested in its fifth independent production company from its Growth Fund, taking a minority stake in Eleven Film, to boost the burgeoning British drama, factual and comedy indie’s continued growth and development.

This investment builds upon Channel 4 first portfolio of investments announced in the summer following the launch of the £20m Growth Fund at the beginning of the year. The fund was set up to nurture the independent sector outside of the normal commissioning cycle by providing access to funding for small to medium sized creative companies based in the UK.

Eleven Film was co-founded by Jamie Campbell and Joel Wilson in 2006. Jamie and Joel have directed and produced a range of high quality drama series, comedy and documentaries across the main UK networks including BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Sky. Eleven Film’s past credits include: Cast Offs (Channel 4), Candid Cameron (BBC One), Rick and Peter (Channel 4), Playhouse Presents: Mr Understood (Sky Arts), My Breasts Could Kill Me (Sky 1) and most recently the major eight-part drama series Glue (E4).

Eleven Film are currently filming a major three-part drama for Sky Living called The Enfield Haunting starring Timothy Spall, Matthew Macfadyen and Juliet Stevenson. The company has a substantial number of shows in development with Sky, the BBC and Channel 4 – as well as a new TV drama series for US network Fox called Nazareth which tells the story of the teenage Jesus.

David Abraham, Chief Executive of Channel 4 said: “Eleven Film perfectly represent the ambition of the Channel 4 Growth Fund, to help incredibly talented and creative British companies develop and grow their businesses and achieve their ambitions.

“Jamie and Joel are young, dynamic TV executives who have worked themselves up from grassroots level to establish a multi-genre production company. We hope through our investment we can help them increase their stronghold in the UK and US particularly in the competitive drama arena.”

Laura Franses, Head of Fund at Channel 4, said: “We’re delighted with the addition of Eleven Film into our Growth Fund portfolio. They’re our first drama indie and while a young company, they have incredible maturity and depth of creative vision, coupled with a strong strategic direction. We look forward to working with them.”

Joel Wilson, Co-founder & Director at Eleven Film said: “We are thrilled to be the first drama company Channel 4 has invested in. Channel 4 has supported us creatively since the start of our careers – providing a foundation for us to build strong relationships with a range of other broadcasters. We are hungry to accelerate the growth of Eleven and it’s great to be doing that with a partner we trust. This investment will allow us to build an even more dynamic and creative team, and to multiply our drama, comedy and factual output for all the broadcasters we work with at home and internationally.”

Channel 4 also has minority stakes in UK based indies Arrow Media, Lightbox, Popkorn and True North.

No output or minimum guarantees will be given to invested companies in relation to Channel 4 commissions – and the Growth Fund investments will not influence the strategy of Channel 4’s commissioning team which will continue to work with the broadest range of suppliers and in a manner consistent with the Code of Practice for Commissioning of Independent Productions and with equality of access.

Channel 4 continues to take submissions from interested independent producers and expects to make the next Growth Fund investment announcement by the end of Q1 next year. UK based companies can register their interest to growthfund@channel4.co.uk