Can we make a killing with box sets?
Three media entrepreneurs want to take on the global giants of TV drama in a race to find the next blockbuster
From left, Chris Wright, Roger Parry and Luke Johnson hope to emulate hit series such as The Killing, starring Sofie Grabol
On a gritty street in London’s East End, Kiefer Sutherland cupped his hand around his cigarette and lit up. In a battered pair of brown leather boots and with a deep gash on his forehead, the notorious hell-raiser looked as if he’d had a night on the tiles.
The truth was slightly more mundane. The Hollywood star was taking a break from filming the ninth series of the hit drama 24, featuring his fugitive counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer holed up in the British capital.
Following a clutch of Oscars for Gravity and 12 Years a Slave, Britain’s creative industries are on a roll. Thanks to some generous tax breaks for high-end television productions, such as 24, British studios are full to bursting point.
A deep pool of talented actors, writers and directors has drawn film makers to these shores down the ages. However, British producers have not always been as