Left Bank Pictures Ltd. (stylised as LEFT BANK Pictures) is a British film and television production company owned by

Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television Inc. (abbreviated as SPT) is an American television production company, production and broadcast syndication, distribution studio. Based at the Sony Pictures Studios complex in Culver City, California, it is a division o ...

through its International Production division. It was formed in 2007 and was the first British media company to receive investment from

BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Ltd. was the wholly owned commercial subsidiary of the BBC, formed out of a restructuring of its predecessor BBC Enterprises in January 1995. The company monetised BBC brands, selling BBC and other British programming for broadcas ...

, the commercial arm of the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. Left Bank Pictures' productions include the television series ''

Wallander Wallander may refer to: TV, film, books * Kurt Wallander, a fictional Swedish police inspector in novels by Henning Mankell :*Wallander (film series), ''Wallander'' (film series), Swedish-language television films of the Wallander stories starring ...

'', '' Strike Back'', '' DCI Banks'' and '' Outlander''. Their production ''

The Crown The Crown is a political concept used in Commonwealth realms. Depending on the context used, it generally refers to the entirety of the State (polity), state (or in federal realms, the relevant level of government in that state), the executive ...

'' is the first British-American television series produced exclusively 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 ...

. The series' first season was released on 4 November 2016.

History

Left Bank Pictures was founded in 2007 by Andy Harries, formerly controller of drama, comedy and film at Granada Productions, Francis Hopkinson and Marigo Kehoe. The company was the first British media company to receive equity investment from

, the commercial venture of the

. BBC Worldwide took a 25% stake, worth £1 million, in Left Bank in exchange for first-look distribution rights on all television productions,Harries, Andy (October 2008).
Memorandum submitted by Left Bank Pictures
. Parliament of the United Kingdom. URL retrieved on 27 November 2008. in a five-year deal.Rushton, Katherine (6 April 2012).

. ''The Daily Telegraph'' (Telegraph Media Group). URL retrieved on 6 April 2012. In December 2008, Left Bank Pictures was one of many independent production companies to receive the production vision award from the

UK Film Council The UK Film Council (UKFC) was a non-departmental public body set up in 2000 to develop and promote the film industry in the UK. It was constituted as a private company limited by guarantee, owned by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and ...

. The award part-funded Left Bank's film development slate. In February 2009, Suzanne Mackie, formerly head of development at Harbour Pictures, joined the company as head of film.Clarke, Steve (25 February 2009)
Mackie moves to Left Bank
. ''Variety'' (Reed Business Information). URL retrieved on 25 February 2009. Hopkinson announced his departure in 2011 to take up a new position with

ITV Studios ITV Studios Limited is a British multinational television media company owned by British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadcasters, and is ba ...

. Michael Casey joined the company, taking on the development slate, and Simon Lupton joined the comedy department. The company was put up for sale for £40 million on 6 April 2012. On 5 July 2012,

made a deal to acquire Left Bank for £40 million. The sale was completed on 23 August 2012, with SPT becoming the majority shareholder, and BBC Worldwide, Harries and Kehoe reducing their stake in the company. BBC Worldwide reduced its stake from 25% to 12.2%.

Productions

Left Bank Pictures' first television commission was ''

'', a television adaptation of Henning Mankell's Kurt Wallander novels. The first series was filmed on location in

Skåne Scania ( ), also known by its native name of Skåne (), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces () of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conterminous w ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in the summer of 2008, and broadcast in November and December 2008.Martin, Philip (26 November 2008).
On location: Wallander
. ''Broadcast'' (Emap Media). URL retrieved on 26 November 2008. The series won the British Academy Television Award for Best Drama Series. The BBC announced the commissioning of a second series in May 2009. Filming ran over the summer again and the series was broadcast in January 2010. The final series as broadcast in 2016. In March 2008, it was announced that Left Bank would be producing '' Strike Back'', a six-part series 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, ...

based on Chris Ryan's novel. The production, starring Richard Armitage and Andrew Lincoln, was filmed on location in South Africa in 2009 for broadcast on Sky1 and Sky1 HD in 2010. Also in 2008, Left Bank produced its first feature film; ''

The Damned United ''The Damned United'' is a 2009 sports drama film directed by Tom Hooper and adapted by Peter Morgan from David Peace's bestselling 2006 novel '' The Damned Utd'' – a largely fictional book based on the author's interpretation of Brian Cl ...

'' was directed by

Tom Hooper Thomas George Hooper (born 5 October 1972)''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005''. 5d: 2485. is a British-Australian filmmaker. Known for his work in film and television he has received numerous accolades includ ...

from a script adapted by

Peter Morgan Peter Julian Robin Morgan (born 10 April 1963) is a British screenwriter and playwright. He has written for theatre, films and television, often writing about historical events or figures such as Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II, whom he has ...

from David Peace's novel '' The Damned Utd''. 2008 also saw Left Bank's first commission for

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 ...

; ''Kids School of Comedy'', a pilot sketch show, was produced for the '' Comedy Lab'' strand, and was based on a stage show in which Andy Harries' son performed. A six-part '' School of Comedy'' series was commissioned by E4 and was broadcast in 2009. A second series has since been commissioned. At the end of 2008, Left Bank received its first commission from ITV, to produce Frank Deasy's four-part serial drama '' Father & Son''. The drama was co-financed by ITV, the Irish broadcaster

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

and the Irish Film Board. The production was based in Dublin, where most of the programme was filmed, even though it was set in Manchester, England. RTÉ broadcast the drama in 2009, and it went on to win the Irish Film and Television Award for Best Single Drama/Drama Serial category. It was broadcast on

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

in June 2010. In 2009, Left Bank produced the six-part romantic comedy series '' Married Single Other'' for ITV. The series stars Ralf Little, Shaun Dooley,

Lucy Davis Lucy Clare Davis (born 17 February 1973) is an English actress known for playing Dawn Tinsley in the BBC comedy ''The Office'' (2001–2003), Hilda Spellman in the Netflix series '' The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina'' (2018–2020), Dianne i ...

, Miranda Raison, Amanda Abbington and

Dean Lennox Kelly Dean Lennox Kelly (born 30 November 1975) is an English actor and voice over artist. He is known for his television roles as Kev Ball in '' Shameless'' and Meredith Rutter in '' Jamestown''. Early life Kelly is from Lytham St Annes, Lancashir ...

, and was filmed on location in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. It was broadcast on ITV1 in February and March 2010. In 2010, Left Bank produced an adaptation of Peter Robinson's '' Aftermath'' for ITV, starring

Stephen Tompkinson Stephen Phillip Tompkinson (born 15 October 1965) is an English actor, known for his television roles as Marcus in '' Chancer '' (1990), Damien Day in '' Drop the Dead Donkey'' (1990–1998), Father Peter Clifford in '' Ballykissangel'' (1996� ...

as DCI Banks, and ''

Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...

'', an adaptation of three of Michael Dibdin's Aurelio Zen novels, which was filmed on location in Italy for BBC Scotland. In 2011, Sky1 broadcast the first series of Left Bank's '' Mad Dogs'', starring John Simm, Philip Glenister, Marc Warren and Max Beesley. In 2012 Optimum Releasing distributed the feature film '' All in Good Time''.Cooper, Sarah (16 September 2010).
Rafta Rafta
. ScreenDaily.com (Emap Media). URL retrieved on 3 January 2011.

Filmography

Television

Film

* ''

'' (2009) (Distributed by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

) * '' The Lady'' (2011) (Distributed by EuropaCorp (France), Entertainment Film Distributors (UK), Cohen Media Group (US), and Golden Scene Company Limited (Hong Kong)) * '' All in Good Time'' (2012) *'' Dark River'' (2017) * '' Misbehaviour'' (2020)

Awards

*Broadcast Award for Best Independent Production Company (2011) — WonWinners 2011
. Emap Awards. URL retrieved on 5 February 2011.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Film production companies of the United Kingdom Sony Pictures Entertainment Sony Pictures Television Sony Pictures Television production companies BBC Worldwide Companies based in the London Borough of Camden Television production companies of the United Kingdom Entertainment companies established in 2007 British companies established in 2007 2012 mergers and acquisitions British subsidiaries of foreign companies Mass media companies based in London