TVDRAMA
Will Trotter (Father Brown, Sister Boniface Mysteries, Doctors) and Ollie Kent (EastEnders, Casualty, Holby City) have teamed up to launch Mill Bay Media, which has two projects already in development.
Trotter was formerly head of BBC Drama Village, and Kent, who most recently produced Sanditon and The Burning Girls, served as head of continuing drama at BBC Studios.
Mill Bay Media, a 53 Degrees Global company, struck a deal to adapt broadcaster Jeremy Vine’s upcoming novel Murder on Line One. The company also has a second cosy crime project, written by Jim Cartwright (Little Voice), in development for a U.K. broadcaster.
Trotter and Kent said: “We set up Mill Bay Media with the aim of working with the immense pool of talent on and off screen in the West Midlands region and other areas of the country, and building long running shows and providing training opportunities which allow production teams to not just work outside of London but to put roots down and build their lives in the regions. We are thrilled to be working with Jeremy Vine, whose fantastic Murder on Line One has all the ingredients for a long-running, returning series, and working with the hugely talented Jim Cartwright on another project which sits in the enormously popular cosy crime genre.”
Vine said: “The Mill Bay Media team is a real force in TV drama with golden reputations. They put Father Brown onscreen and made it one of the most successful cosy crime daytime dramas in British TV history. They are hugely creative, serious and dedicated—with a bulging contacts book—and my dream is to work with them!”
Nick Bullen, executive chairman of 53 Degrees Global, added: “We are very proud to be launching 53 Degrees Global’s first scripted label with Will and Ollie. They have decades of experience between them and a strong track record in popular, broad appeal, highly returnable dramas, as well as being champions of the West Midlands region and supporting local creative talent.”
