Granada International Takes Stake in New Drama Indie

LONDON, July 19: Granada International has bought a
25-percent interest in Mammoth Screen, a new British drama production house run
by the award-winning producers Michele Buck and Damien Timmer.

The deal grants Granada the international distribution
rights to all of Mammoth Screen's titles. Granada International will also be
involved at the outset in the development of projects, advising on the
international potential for each and also brokering finance and co-production with
global broadcast partners.

The first series to be launched under the new deal is the
drama Lost In Austen, which Granada
International will present to international buyers at MIPTV 2008.
Pre-production work has started on the series, which is written by Guy Andrews
for ITV1. It is billed as a highly original take on Jane Austen's Pride
and Prejudice, following a modern woman who
finds herself swapping places with Austen's fictional heroine Elizabeth Bennet.
Trapped in her favorite book, Amanda tries desperately to keep the story on
course, while falling in love with Mr. Darcy.

ITV1 has also commissioned Mammoth Screen to make a new 3×1
hour version of Emily Bronte's Wuthering
Heights. Peter Bowker (Blackpool) is the
screenwriter.

Damien Timmer, ex-head of drama at ITV Productions, founded
the company at the end of last year, and Michele Buck, ex-controller of drama
at ITV Productions, joined him last
month. Both are joint managing directors. They are joined on the team by Piers
Wenger and Rebecca Keane as executive producers, Jon Williams as director of production and finance, and Luke
Franklin as head of development.