Red Production Company Limited was a British independent television drama production company that was founded by Nicola Shindler and owned by French production & distribution company

StudioCanal StudioCanal S.A.S. (formerly known as Le Studio Canal+, Canal Plus, Canal+ Distribution, Canal+ D.A., and Canal+ Production and also known as StudioCanal International) is a French film & television production and distribution company which is a ...

Background

Red Production Company was formed in 1998 by Nicola Shindler, a television producer who had worked on ''

Our Friends in the North ''Our Friends in the North'' is a British television drama Serial (radio and television), serial produced by the BBC. It was originally broadcast in nine episodes on BBC2 in early 1996. Written by Peter Flannery, it tells the story of four frie ...

'' and '' Cracker''. Red's first production was the controversial drama '' Queer as Folk'', written by

Russell T Davies Stephen Russell Davies ( ; born 27 April 1963), known professionally as Russell T Davies, is a Welsh screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for being the original showrunner and head writer of the revival of the BBC sci-fi seri ...

and based on the lives of three gay men in the city. This was screened on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

in early 1999 and drew much comment and praise. The same year, Red followed this up with another series for

, an anthology of six half-hour plays about love entitled ''Love in the 21st Century''. ''Queer as Folk 2'' arrived in 2000, and since then Red has expanded to produce dramas for nearly all of the main British television channels. The company's success led to an attempt by

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

– in whose Quay Street building the company rented offices – to buy it, but Shindler turned down their offer, wanting to retain control of her own company. In 2013, Red moved into the

MediaCityUK MediaCityUK is a mixed-use property development on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal in City of Salford, Salford, Greater Manchester, England. The project was developed by The Peel Group, Peel Media; its principal tenants are Mass media, ...

complex in Manchester. RED is now based in offices at Ancoats since 2022, with CEO Patrick Schweitzer (previously from Tall Story Pictures) at the helm. In June 2025 12 years after StudioCanal acquired Red Production Company, Red Production Company's parent company StudioCanal announced the shuttering of their Manchester-based British television production outfit Red Production Company cutting down as Patrick Schweitzer stepping down as chief executive with Red's current and future state will be taken over by StudioCanal's British television production division StudioCanal TV UK as their new production arm.

Partnerships

In December 2013, it was announced that Shindler had sold a majority stake in Red to the French media company

. In 2015, it was announced that Shindler would provide creative guidance and management oversight to a new production company called Guilty Party, founded by the actor

Simon Bird Simon Antony Bird (born 19 August 1984) is an English comedian, actor, director and producer. He is best known for playing Will McKenzie in the multi-award-winning E4 comedy series ''The Inbetweeners'' (2008–2010), as well as its two films ( ...

Jonny Sweet Jonathan Huw Sweet (born 1985) is a British comedian and the recipient of the 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Award for best newcomer. Early life Sweet was born in Nottingham and educated at the local independent school Nottingham High School. He read ...

, and Spencer Millman. In 2016, Shindler went into business with author

Harlan Coben Harlan Coben (born January 4, 1962) is an American writer of mystery novels and thrillers. The plots of his novels often involve the resurfacing of unresolved or misinterpreted events in the past, murders, or fatal accidents and have multiple ...

to form the US-based production company, Final Twist Productions. Shindler is Co-CEO with Coben. StudioCanal will provide distribution services.

Programmes

;For

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

* '' Clocking Off'' (2000–03) * '' Linda Green'' (2001–02) * '' Sparkhouse'' (2002) * ''The Good Housekeeping Guide'' (2006) * ''Magnolia'' (2006) * '' New Street Law'' (2006–07) * '' Single Father'' (2010) * '' Last Tango in Halifax'' (2012–2020) * ''

The Driver ''The Driver'' is a 1978 American crime film, crime thriller film written and directed by Walter Hill, and starring Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern and Isabelle Adjani. The film featured only unnamed characters, and follows a getaway driver for robberi ...

'' (2014) * '' Happy Valley'' (2014–23) * '' Ordinary Lies'' (2015–16) * '' Danny and the Human Zoo'' (2015) * '' Trust Me'' (2017) * ''Come Home'' (2018) * '' Years and Years'' (2019) * '' Ridley Road (2021) ;For

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

* ''Flesh and Blood'' (2002) * ''Indian Dream'' (2003) ;For

BBC Choice BBC Choice was a British digital television channel which was owned by the BBC and was launched on 23 September 1998. It was the first United Kingdom, British TV channel to broadcast exclusively in Digital television, digital format, as well as t ...

* '' Having It Off'' (2002) ;For

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

*''

Burn It Burn It may refer to: * Burn It (TV series), a 2003 British television series * Burn It (song), a 2020 song by Agust D * Burn It, a song by Fever 333, from the album Strength in Numb333rs See also * Burn It!, a 1985 album by Modern Romance * ...

'' (2003) *'' Casanova'' (2005) *''

Conviction In law, a conviction is the determination by a court of law that a defendant is Guilty (law), guilty of a crime. A conviction may follow a guilty plea that is accepted by the court, a jury trial in which a verdict of guilty is delivered, or a ...

'' (2004) ;For ITV *'' Bob & Rose'' (2001) *'' The Second Coming'' (2003) *'' Mine All Mine'' (2004) *''Big Dippers'' (2005) *'' Dead Man Weds'' (2005) *'' Jane Hall'' (2006) *''

Unforgiven ''Unforgiven'' is a 1992 American revisionist Western film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood from a screenplay by David Webb Peoples. It stars Eastwood as William Munny, an aging outlaw and killer who takes on one more job years after ...

'' (2009) *'' Scott & Bailey'' (2011–16) *''

Prey Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not ki ...

'' (2014–15) *''

Paranoid Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety, suspicion, or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of con ...

'' (2016) *''

Butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

'' (2018) *'' Finding Alice'' (2021) *'' No Return'' (2022) ;For

* '' Queer as Folk'' (1999–2000) * ''Love in the 21st Century'' (1999) * ''Legless'' (2005) * '' The Mark of Cain'' (2007) * ''

Cucumber The cucumber (''Cucumis sativus'') is a widely-cultivated creeping vine plant in the family Cucurbitaceae that bears cylindrical to spherical fruits, which are used as culinary vegetables.It's a Sin "It's a Sin" is a song by English synth-pop duo Pet Shop Boys from their second studio album, '' Actually'' (1987). Written by Chris Lowe and Neil Tennant, the song was released on 15 June 1987 as the album's lead single. It became the duo's ...

'' (2021) ;For E4 * ''

Banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

'' (2015) ;For

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

*''Now You See Her'' (2001) ;For

Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group, Sky Group Limited that launched in 2011 and broadcasts in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel airs original British-produced dramas like ''Fortitude (TV series), F ...

*'' Hit & Miss'' (2011) ;For

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

*''

'' (2016) *''

Safe A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable enclosure used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body ...

'' (2018) *'' The Stranger'' (2020) *'' Stay Close'' (2021) ;For

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...

*''

Anansi Boys ''Anansi Boys'' is a fantasy novel by English writer Neil Gaiman. In the novel, "Mr. Nancy"—an incarnation of the West African trickster god Anansi—dies, leaving twin sons, who in turn discover one another's existence after being separated ...

'' (TBA)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Television production companies of the United Kingdom StudioCanal Companies based in Manchester Mass media companies established in 1998 Mass media companies disestablished in 2025 British companies established in 1998 British companies disestablished in 2025 British subsidiaries of foreign companies