Gangs of London Producer Thomas Benski Launches Lumina

Thomas Benski, former CEO and co-founder of Pulse Films, has unveiled the new talent- and IP-led media group and venture firm Lumina.

With offices in London, New York, Paris and Los Angeles, Lumina seeks to empower talent and founders to create long-lasting enterprise value by shifting the focus from service to ownership. It will combine financial investment and the resources of a global studio, strategically organized into four verticals: talent-driven studios, production, kids and family, and consumer.

The company’s portfolio spans all major content types, genres and formats, with an emphasis on first-class creators, premium IP and embracing new financial models, as well as the use of technology.

By self-financing film and TV projects, Lumina and its partners are able to achieve greater creative and financial autonomy.

Lumina has already partnered with talent such Omar Sy and Louis Leterrier for the new European studio Carrousel Studios and Yann Demange’s Wayward Films (’71, Top Boy). On the kids and family vertical, it has backed the gaming studio Creators Corp as well as Strike. It has invested in consumer brands such as Metier and DAACI and just closed on its biggest investment to date on a globally recognized active wear brand soon to be announced.

Lumina has also launched a new multi-disciplinary film studio, Magna Studios, led by Marisa Clifford and Davud Karbassioun, which has projects in production across branded, documentaries and scripted.

The projection is that Lumina will deliver upwards of $55 million in revenue across the group. It has already started producing its first IP and long-form projects, which will deliver early next year and be announced shortly. Lumina has also secured funding for an “IP war chest” that will enable the production of a number of high-value film and TV projects over the coming years across its group companies.

“The current media landscape is in flux, and we believe this is the ideal time to build future-facing companies. Drawing from our rich past experience, we are building in the present to shape the future,” said Benski. “With content at the heart of everything today, I strongly believe talent, brands and IP are the multipliers. Our thesis is that there is a big opportunity to decouple the IP creation process by building studios and production companies around major talent. This will help them own more of their work and build long-lasting companies that remove unnecessary and expensive layers in the process of creating IP. With capital and strategic input we believe in the decentralized United Artist model for today.”

Sy, co-founder of Carrousel, one of Lumina’s companies, added, “At the heart of this partnership, Louis, Thomas and I saw a big opportunity in building an ambitious talent-led business that can leverage the current market dynamics. Lumina & Thomas not only bring capital but a strategic and operational approach that offers artists like us the resources and expertise to go out and realize our ambitions at a time when talent is too often not at the table to benefit from a project’s long-term success.”

Magnus Rausing of BFK, one of Lumina’s investors, said, “Lumina’s collective knowledge in investing and operating businesses makes them the ideal platform for pioneering a new approach that both supports talent to create and own valuable IP while driving innovation across its companies—creatively, strategically and technologically. I was looking for a vehicle to build a media and entertainment footprint, and Lumina is absolutely the right platform given its inventive model, so I’m excited to help it become a defining player in the ecosystem.”

Charles Dorfman, CEO of Dorfman Media Holdings, commented, “We have known Thomas and his team for a long while, saw them build a tremendous business at Pulse and were naturally excited to back his new venture. I have total confidence in their ability to identify exciting opportunities across the media, entertainment and consumer industries, especially as the media industry as a whole moves into a new phase of development. We are committed strategic partners who are seeking to add value beyond our investment and look forward to building Lumina and its companies with Thomas and his team.”

Marie Savare and P.J. van Sandwijk, co-founders of SVS Holding, said, “We firmly believe Lumina’s strategic model, combining talent-driven content creation with a venture-backed business framework, represents the future of media and entertainment. As committed strategic partners, we look forward to contributing beyond our investment to build a transformative and highly profitable enterprise together.”