BBC Films turns on TV talent
Allen tapped to head laffer initiative
The initiative will be spearheaded by Kenton Allen, the BBC comedy exec who produced this year's Oscar-winning short "Six Shooter" in his free time.
Allen and BBC head of comedy Jon Plowman will work with BBC Films topper David Thompson to identify TV talent with the potential to cross over into movies, and to develop ideas for movie comedies.
This is part of a wider strategy to broaden BBC Films' output. The pubcaster's movie arm has produced pics aimed at specialized and upscale auds, although its TV channels serve a wider spectrum of tastes.
Movies backed by BBC Films rarely find their way onto BBC1, the pubcaster's mass-market flagship web, and even struggle to escape the latenight ghetto on minority web BBC2.
But the BBC recently pledged to double its annual investment in movies over the next couple of years. It also promised BBC Films would deliver movies to all the pubcaster's channels, including digital services BBC3 and BBC4.
Recent comedies from BBC Films include Debbie Isitt's wedding-themed "Confetti" and Michael Winterbottom's "A Cock and Bull Story," both of which performed modestly at the box office.
BBC Films also has struck a development deal with writer-producer Armando Iannucci's inhouse comedy unit as it pushes even further into the mainstream.
Allen said he wants to discover "the British Steve Carell." "BBC Comedy has a fine tradition of developing iconic comic voices from Ronnie Barker to Ricky Gervais and I'm confident that this opportunity will lead to some truly original filmmaking," said Allen.
