David Heyman, the producer behind hit movies such as Harry Potter, Paddington and Gravity, is to create a television production company with NBC Universal in a move which underlines the trend for big name film-makers to move onto the small screen.
NBC, the US television and cable company, has already committed to showing two series yet to be produced by the new company, Heyday Television, which will be based in Los Angeles and London. Although details of any new shows are not yet finalised, Heyday is expected to focus on returning series and six-parters rather than one-off television shows.
In signing off on “blind” series like this, NBC is showing faith in the English producer, who is currently filming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the Harry Potter prequel starring Eddie Redmayne.
Heyman, who negotiated the unusual 50/50 joint venture with Michael Edelstein, president of NBC Universal International Studios, said he thought television offered greater freedom to develop complicated ideas. “I can’t wait to get started in building an ambitious and varied slate of shows which I hope can resonate around the world,” he said.
Citing award-winning television series such as The Wire and The Sopranos as well as Veep, Heyman said TV offered the chance to show “nuanced stories with characters who are grey, black or white, where people who do bad things have virtues and people who do virtuous things can be bad”.
Although he has enjoyed huge success in film and continues to work on big projects, Heyman said film studios were increasingly interested in branded entertainment, especially those with “prior brand recognition” such as Star Wars or, after the huge success of the first film, Harry Potter.
“I am very comfortable playing in that sandpit, but I also want to look at other things,” said Heyman, who is also set to make a sequel to Paddington.
Heyman, who said he had a “real passion” for American films of the 1960s and 70s such Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation or the Godfather trilogy, said “it’s just so hard to get those films made today”.
Edelstein, one of the original executive producers for Desperate Housewives, said television was going through a new “golden age”.
“David Heyman has created some of the most memorable and successful movies of our time. It is a pleasure to welcome him into the NBC Universal family. We look forward to helping David bring his passion and creativity to global television audiences for years to come,” he said.
Having met Heyman during the filming of David Hare’s intelligence trillers, The Worricker Trilogy, Edelstein said Heyman’s success to date shows he “had the ability to nurture long-running stories” and would therefore be the ideal person to transition into television.
Jerry Bruckheimer, who created the CSI series after producing films such as Beverly Hills Cop and Top Gun, is often cited as the epitome of success for filmmakers turned TV gurus. However, not all such transitions have run as smoothly, with Woody Allen already describing his deal with Amazon Prime for a a six-episode TV show as a “catastrophic error”.
It is expected to take at least 18 months and probably longer for the new company to get something on air.
NBC Universal already owns several production companies including Carnival, which makes Downton Abbey and The Last Kingdom; and also Monkey Kingdom, responsible for Made in Chelsea.
The US company’s London-based studio business also has a joint venture with Working Title Television, the company behind BBC drama London Spy.
