Channel 4 takes minority stake in Warp Films

Sheffield-based Warp Films has played a key role in British film over the past twenty years and moved into TV with This is England 1986 (-90), The Last Panthers, and, most recently, The Virtues and Little Birds. 

Since founder Mark Herbert produced its first short film with backing from Film 4 in 2002, the company has gone on to produce 26 feature films and eight TV series that have garnered 36 BAFTA and 56 BIFA nominations (winning 18 and 14 respectively).

Channel 4 becomes a minority shareholder in Warp, which plans to use the investment to increase its focus on premium returnable drama, building on its relationships with multiple UK and US-based broadcasters and streamers.

Read more RTS Conference: BBC, Channel 4 and ITV on household budgets, going digital and diversity

Warp is known for working with an array of talent including Shane Meadows, Chris Morris, Idris Elba and Stephen Graham.

Caroline Murphy, head of Channel 4’s Indie Growth Fund, said: “Warp Films has consistently produced outstanding and acclaimed content over the years and it’s hugely exciting to see the company looking to build on this by expanding further into returnable high-end drama.

Warp Films joint-CEOs Mark Herbert and Peter Carlton said: “We have forged an amazing relationship with Channel 4 over the last 20 years. They have always truly backed us as a regional company, and it is so exciting that the growth fund has now committed to backing the next, exciting phase of our story. Our plan is bold, and it seems fitting that we are partnering with an investor who has been integral to our success to date.”

The addition of Warp Films takes the current portfolio of companies in the Channel 4 Indie Growth Fund to 19 with eleven companies having joined since 2020. 

Read more DTG Summit 2022: Addressable TV and the Metaverse dominate broadcaster thinking