Nine N&R production companies to benefit from Channel 4’s Business Boost programme

12 October 2023

Nine Nations & Regions based independent production companies will receive specialist training and business support as part of Channel 4’s Business Boost programme.

4Skills Business Boost, primarily focused on supporting smaller indies, will offer targeted intervention to help production companies grow their business.

Channel 4’s Managing Director Nations & Regions Sinead Rocks said: “We want 4Skills Business Boost to make a real difference to production companies as they continue to negotiate tough economic conditions. Smaller businesses are often at much greater risk during more difficult times so it’s really important Channel 4 does what it can to support them. I’m really pleased we’ve been able to extend Business Boost to more companies than we’d originally anticipated.”

The indies to receive support are: Afro-Mic Production Ltd (Belfast); Bowled Over Media Ltd (Brighton); Candour Productions (Leeds); Clockwork Films (Leeds); Drummer Television (Bristol); Finestripe Productions Limited (Glasgow); Kailash Films Ltd (Cardiff); Waddell Media Ltd (Holywood, Co Down); ZANDLAND Ltd (Liverpool).

Funded by 4Skills and 4Producers, Business Boost will initially offer expert guidance and training. Each business will undergo a detailed business assessment with a business advisor to identify their training and support needs.

Indies will have access to the 4Producers, 4Skills and Indie Growth Fund teams, and will work directly with the Channel’s in house expertise in distribution, IP sales and acquisitions.

Following the initial business development consultation, a bespoke package of support will be created for each indie, which can include:

• consultancy with industry experts in fields relating to business sustainability, such as finance, strategy or human relations
• access to skills training courses for company leaders and their teams
• freelance support such as development producers or production finance support, to help the indie generate additional business
• support to enable the indie to make changes to the company’s structure or processes
• access to business intelligence, data and markets

Rebecca Thompson, Channel 4’s Head of Indie Relations, said: “Business Boost will offer each indie bespoke, practical support and advice tailored to its particular needs. Providing access to a range of expertise from within Channel 4, as well as independent support, will open great opportunities for these indies to grow and develop.”

Business Boost will be run by the 4Skills and 4Producers teams, with support from Channel 4’s Indie Growth Fund, acquisitions teams and additional departments as needed.

The package builds on a number of recent projects funded by 4Skills - Channel 4’s training, development and learning initiative - to support the freelance and indie communities.

These include:

• Channel 4 has pledged to double its 4Skills annual budget from £5 million to £10 million by 2025.
• key funding for the Unscripted Skills Fund, which provides freelancer focused training, especially outside of London
• an NFTS partnership offering week-long female self-shooters and factual editing training courses, and free online weeks including around a dozen workshops and masterclasses focused on different areas
• Factual Fast Track, in partnership with BBC and screen agencies, provide training, development and placements for senior producers in Wales & the West, Scotland and Northern Ireland
• TRC partnership programmes such as the SuperSizer training scheme to support unscripted development in the Nations & Regions and a bespoke one-off training programme focused on creative leadership
• open days in partnership with Create Central and NI Screen;
• Production Management Skills Fund to help expand the future pool of production management talent across the sector.

Channel 4 also offers a number of initiatives to support the UK production sector, including the Emerging Indie Fund, which has worked with 52 companies across the UK in the past three years, the Indie Accelerator Programme, which provides support to indies with ethnically diverse leadership, and the Indie Growth Fund, offering investment, support and strategic advice for ambitious indies moving to the next stage.