Danny Perkins, the former Studiocanal UK boss, has lifted the lid on his new film first Elysian Film Group for the first time.
Perkins, speaking at the INTV conference in Israel, revealed that producer Kate Solomon has co-founded the company with and he has plans to produce television series in addition to feature films. Solomon will run the production side of the business, while Perkins will oversee the business side.
Solomon has produced titles including Green Zone, Entebbe and Legend. She has developed projects with the likes of Working Title and Film4 and worked with Paul Greengrass on United 93.
Perkins has plans to produce a musical, a family film and is also developing a handful of television series.
He announced he was leaving Studiocanal, where he ran the UK, last June.
Watch on Deadline
During his tenure at the firm, Perkins oversaw UK distribution on box office hits including Paddington 1 & 2, Legend, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Early Man and Shaun The Sheep Movie. The two Paddington movies generated more than $120M in the UK alone.
Awards hits distributed in the UK during Perkins’ tenure include Carol, Manchester By The Sea, Room, The Wrestler and The Hurt Locker while Brit breakout acquisitions under the Optimum and Studiocanal labels have included Four Lions, Alan Partridge Alpha Papa, and The Imitation Game. Early foreign language successes included Amores Perros, Pan’s Labyrinth, Spirited Away and A Prophet.
His executive producer credits include Alan Partridge, ’71, Carol, Macbeth and upcoming movies The Secret Garden and Shaun The Sheep Movie: Farmageddon. Idris Elba’s Yardie will be the last film Perkins releases at the company but the 2018/19 slate also includes Steve Carell-Timothee Chalamet drama Beautiful Boy, James Marsh’s crime pic The King Of Thieves, Liam Neeson pic Hard Powder and Marjane Satrapi drama Radioactive.
Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.