Lionsgate UK Enters First-Look Pact with Bonafide Films

LONDON: In a move that bolsters its British television slate, Lionsgate UK has inked a first-look deal with Bonafide Films.

Bonafide is currently in production on BBC One’s The Last Post, a Peter Moffat series that tells the story of a regiment of military police and their families stationed in the Middle East during the 1960s Aden Emergency. The producer is also developing an adaptation of JG Ballard’s Super-Cannes with playwright DC Moore adapting and Saul Dibb directing; an original series with Peter Straughan; and adaptations of the George Saunders novella Bounty and the Ned Bauman novel The Teleportation Accident with Straughan for Film4.

Zygi Kamasa, the CEO of Lionsgate’s European office, commented, “We’re excited to be partnering with Bonafide, which has proved to have a flair for bringing fresh and unique projects to the table. This deal marks the latest step in our continued strategy of bringing British television product to a global audience out of the U.K. office.”

“Under the leadership of Zygi Kamasa, Lionsgate UK is continuing to build a robust television business alongside its premier film brand,” said Lionsgate Television Group’s chairman, Kevin Beggs. “We’re pleased to develop a relationship with Margery Bone and the team at Bonafide, a dynamic and exciting young company with a fast-growing television drama business, as we continue to work closely with our U.K. colleagues in creating and delivering premium quality programming for a global audience.”

Bone, the managing director of Bonafide Films, commented: “Partnering with Lionsgate UK on this first-look deal marks an exciting moment for Bonafide Films as our company continues to grow. In the next three years, we look forward to bringing Lionsgate a host of bold and original ideas from the established writers with whom we have ongoing relationships as well as the new writing talent who we support and develop to create the next wave of brilliant, authentic television.”