Eloise Tooke

World Screen Weekly, September 25, 2008

Managing Director

Power

Launched 13 years ago as a three-person operation in a small London office, Power has become a leading producer and distributor of content worldwide, with offices in London, Miami and Singapore, a string of successful European productions to its credit and, as of this fall, a drama on a major U.S. network, when Crusoe launches on NBC. “The journey has been eventful,” says Eloise Tooke, who has been with Power since the early days. “When I started, it was me on phones and coffee!” she quips.

Tooke has been a key figure in Power’s evolution from a “niche operation, specializing in Central and Eastern European rights,” to where the company is today. Milestones over the years, Tooke notes, include the output deal signed with RHI Entertainment more than a decade ago, and the launch of Power’s production business in 2002. “We have produced about 21 minis and 23 movies and a network series. That’s a substantial business now. We produced a $30 million mini and feature, called Flood, last year. [The production operation] really allowed us to globalize our distribution business.”

Capping off that growth this year were two NBC deals—the network ordering Crusoe as well as picking up the completed mini-series XIII, a thriller starring Val Kilmer and Stephen Dorff.

Continuing to deliver compelling, high-quality entertainment, Tooke says, hinges on the company’s ability to attract the right partners and the right projects. “We’re always scouring the European and English-speaking markets for those event high-concept pieces that appeal to our international marketplace.”

On the slate at the moment are Ice, an environmental disaster film that serves as a follow-up to Flood; El Cid, which will be shot in Morocco and Spain, and The Day of the Triffids. “It’s a War of the Worlds special-effects extravaganza,” Tooke says, “I think it’s going to be huge.”

Those special effects and high production values mean big budgets, and Power has become adept at structuring co-production deals in order to mitigate those costs. “The key is being absolutely clear at the outset about each partner’s vision for the piece. And all the cards have to be on the table. If those visions aren’t aligned then you’re heading straight for disaster. Having said that, we’ve got fantastic relationships with our partners in Europe, Canada, the U.S. and Australia. We’re very proud of those relationships and they’re the real key, that’s what it all comes down to. People come to us because they know we make a certain type pf show. The vision has to cater for the international rather than solely domestic [market] and everyone has to be on board for that.”

By building those strong relationships with its co-production partners, Power is committed to maintaining “the quality and the quantity of the shows we’re delivering to our broadcasters,” Tooke says. “The current slate we have and the ’09/10 slate that we’re planning is going to keep everyone in the company extremely busy for the next year and beyond that.”

On the distribution end, meanwhile, the new Latin America and Asian sales offices, in Miami and Singapore, respectively, are being staffed up, and Power has set its sights on the home-entertainment and new-media markets.

“The most exciting thing about working at Power is that it’s constantly evolving,” Tooke says. “No two years have been the same and that means my job has completely changed.”