Yahoo Finance U.K. Factual Producer Woodcut Media Launches Distribution Arm (EXCLUSIVE)
U.K. factual indie Woodcut Media has launched an international distribution and sales business.
Woodcut International will focus on global sales of a program catalog of some 100 hours from the Woodcut slate, including new Sky Crime U.K. series “The Beverley Allitt Tapes” and library titles “The Ivy,” “Defenders of the Sky,” “Football: A Brief History by Alfie Allen” and “Murders That Shocked the Nation.” It will also co-finance via a new investment fund that has been created for the purpose.
Woodcut Media, which is part of the Anthology Group, will continue to work with existing and new third-party distributors on other in-house productions.
The launch of Woodcut International is spearheaded by Woodcut Media’s director of business development Koulla Anastasi, supported by the Anthology Group’s chief operating officer Polly Benton. Anastasi will oversee a team of experienced international sales agents around the world.
“We have been focused on cementing our international relationships with commissioners and buyers and securing pre-sales on productions for a while now, so this next phase is a logical progression,” said Kate Beal, co-founder and CEO of Woodcut Media. “The creation of Woodcut International allows us to be even more commercially, as well as editorially, collaborative with our broadcast partners.”
“Woodcut Media has always been a very nimble business, pivoting to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the international market,” said Hilary Strong, chairman of Woodcut Media and CEO of the Anthology Group. “Its diverse, out-of-London team is particularly strong commercially and the Anthology Group has been delighted to be able to help support this new venture, which will enable Woodcut to partner commercially with its commissioners and fast track its large program slate.”
Woodcut Media is a well-known true crime genre producer with titles including “World’s Most Evil Killers” and “The Krays: The Prison Years.” The outfit’s catalog also includes specialist factual series “The Secret History of World War II,” “Royals on the Frontline” and the hit “Combat” franchise; premium documentaries like “Tony Robinson’s VE Day: Minute by Minute,” “Fiennes: Return to the Nile” featuring Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Joseph Fiennes, and “Mandela, My Dad and Me” featuring Idris Elba; and factual entertainment shows “World’s Greatest Palaces” and “How Hacks Work.”
The Anthology Group is made up of Anthology Studios, Anthology Theater and Anthology Estates. Anthology Studios is currently six television and film production companies and a licensing company, all operating across the U.K. and internationally, while Anthology Theater is made up of a media investment fund and a theater production company.
(Pictured: Koulla Anastasi, Hilary Strong, Kate Beal)
More from Variety
U.K. Coalition for Change: This Is the Moment for an Industry Reset (Guest Column)
Sky Suspends 'Brassic' Shoot as Crew Member Exhibits COVID-19 Symptoms
'Montalbano' Star Luca Zingaretti Set for Sky Italian Original 'The King'
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
