BBC Worldwide has invested in the brand-new British indie Various Artists Limited, which will specialize in comedy, comedy-drama and drama.<\/p>\n
Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, the writers behind such hits as Peep Show<\/em>, Fresh Meat<\/em> and Ill Behaviour<\/em>, teamed up with former Channel 4 commissioners Phil Clarke and Roberto Troni to launch the scripted producer. BBC Worldwide will be the commercial partner for the indie, taking a 20-percent shareholding.<\/p>\n Additionally, BBC Worldwide will have global distribution rights to all content developed by Various Artists Limited.<\/p>\n Jonathan Blyth, commercial director for comedy at BBC Worldwide, said: \u201cAs investment and partnership decisions go, this was one of the easiest! Phil and Roberto\u2019s flawless track records in comedy and drama, coupled with the opportunity of a first look over television projects created by Sam and Jesse, makes this a particularly exciting creative and commercial opportunity for BBC Worldwide.\u201d<\/p>\n Clarke, the managing director of Various Artists Limited, commented: \u201cWe are delighted to have BBC Worldwide as our backer. They are incredibly supportive, understand the realities of producing scripted television and the editorial strategies and timescales required, as well as the commercial challenges of running a new production company. For us, they\u2019re the perfect fit.\u201d<\/p>\n Armstrong and Bain added: \u201cWe\u2019ve worked extremely closely with Phil and Roberto over the last 15 years on Peep Show<\/em>, Fresh Meat<\/em> and Babylon<\/em> and we\u2019re thrilled about the prospect of new shared endeavors. We\u2019re excited to have the backing of BBC Worldwide, who have a great track record in backing both comedy and drama. What\u2019s more, as their name suggests, they have access to the whole wide world. They\u2019ve figured out how wide the world is, and it doesn\u2019t faze them. It\u2019s impressive, to say the least.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BBC Worldwide has invested in the brand-new British indie Various Artists Limited, which will specialize in comedy, comedy-drama and drama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":350,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[99,1416],"class_list":["post-8045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","","category-top-stories","tag-bbc-worldwide","tag-various-artists-limited"],"yoast_head":"\n