BBC Studios Takes Full Control Of ‘Brexit: The Uncivil War’ And ‘Sherwood’ Producer House Productions

BBC Studios has taken full control of Tessa Ross and Juliette Howell’s prolific Sherwood and Brexit: The Uncivil War producer House Productions.

The BBC’s commercial arm has upped its stake in the London indie from 25% to full control, similar to the relationship that it has with Gentleman Jack producer Lookout Point, Steve Coogan’s Baby Cow and End Of The F***ing World’s Clerkenwell Films.

Ross and Howell, the former heads of Film4 and Working Title TV respectively, launched House in 2016 and the outfit has won a wealth of commissions in the past 18 months following the success of Channel 4’s Benedict Cumberbatch-starring single Brexit from Quiz creator James Graham.

Graham is also behind the indie’s upcoming BBC1 mini-series Sherwood, while it is also producing Netflix’s The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle and Stephen Butchard’s The Good Mothers for Disney+ vertical Star.

Meanwhile on the film side, House is producing Florence Pugh-starring Netflix psychological thriller The Wonder with Normal People producer Element Pictures, while two TV dramas and several film projects are yet to be announced.

The indie “exemplifies bold, British, creativity,” according to BBC Studios Chief Creative Officer Mark Linsey, who oversees producer partnerships.

Ross and Howell added: “We know how lucky we are to have partners in BBC Studios who share not just our ambition for growth and scale, but also for the way in which we achieve that growth, for the people we work with and the stories we tell.”

The deal was negotiated by Laura Franses on behalf of House Productions (advised by Tom Manwaring of Helion Partners) and Matt Garside, Managing Director of Content Partnerships for BBC Studios.