Arrow Media’s Live from Space season was broadcast on Channel 4 earlier this year
Channel 4 has invested £4 million in its first independent production companies as it looks to aid the growth and development of the sector.
The investment, which will come from Channel 4’s £20 million Growth Fund, will see the publicly-owned broadcaster take undisclosed minority stakes of up to 25% in four companies – Arrow Media, Lightbox, Popkorn and True North.
Lightbox, founded by two-time Academy Award-winning producer Simon Chinn and Award-winning producer Jonathan Chinn, is a multi-platform media company focused on creating non-fiction programming in the UK and the US. Productions include Searching for Sugar Man and Man on Wire.
Arrow Media, which operates in the UK, US and other international territories, is responsible for a range of factual content including the Live from Space season broadcast on Channel 4 and Dogs: Their Secret Lives; while Popkorn’s credits include Channel 5’s Killers Behind Bars and Channel 4’s Ria: Diary of a Teenage Transsexual.
Yorkshire-based True North’s regionally-rooted portfolio includes CBBC’s Junior Vets, MTV’s The Valleys and More 4’s The Dream.
Channel 4 stated that each investment was carefully considered to evaluate whether there was a clear growth opportunity and its value to the wider UK creative industry.
The broadcaster added that as a not-for-profit, public service broadcaster, all commercial returns derived from the investments will bolster the corporation’s investment in original content and new companies.
Commenting on the investments, Channel 4’s chief executive, David Abraham, said: “This is a significant moment for Channel 4 as we help support talented creative companies with our Growth Fund investments.
“I’m delighted that we’ve been able to invest in four diverse British independent producers and I hope both Channel 4 and the wider industry will benefit from their future success.
“This is just the start and we will be announcing more deals over the course of the next year.”
Channel 4 is continuing to take submissions from interested independent producers and expects to make the next Growth Fund investment at the end of the first quarter of 2015.
