| CPL Productions | |
| Former Name: | Celador |
| Industry: | Television, film and theatre production, music publishing, radio station operation |
| Founder: | Paul Smith CBE |
| Hq Location City: | Long Acre |
| Hq Location Country: | United Kingdom |
| Area Served: | United Kingdom and overseas |
| Brands: | Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Slumdog Millionaire The Descent Winning Lines |
| Services: | Television production Broadcast syndication Light entertainment Motion picture production Commercial radio Music publishing Mobile entertainment |
| Subsid: | Celador Films Celador Theatrical Productions Lusam Music |
| Parent: | Seven.One Studios |
| Owner: | ProSiebenSat.1 Media |
CPL Productions (formerly Celador) is an independent television and radio production company run by Danielle Lux, Murray Boland and Janet Oakes.[1] It was formed in the United Kingdom in 1981 as an independent television production company. It created and produced a number of popular light entertainment shows and is best known for the TV format Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and the film Slumdog Millionaire which, in 2009, collected seven BAFTAs, four Golden Globes and eight Oscars including Best Director and Best Picture.[2]
The name Celador is a re-spelling of "cellar door", a phrase whose sound is often noted to be particularly euphonious.
Formerly known as Celador, the company was founded by Paul Smith and included Jasper Carrott as one of its founder shareholders. After establishing itself as a leading UK production company it expanded into TV format licensing, film production and radio station ownership and operation. By 2006, Celador was owned by Complete Communications Corporation, a firm which Smith (who owned 18%) wanted to break up so he could concentrate on radio and film production. Managing director and former 1990s Top of the Pops presenter Adrian Woolfe[3] wanted to buy the television division outright as part of a management buyout with Danielle Lux, but this was split into parts with Lux completing the buy-out of Celador Productions without Woolfe and the rights to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. In 2009, Celador Productions re-named to CPL, before becoming a division of ProSieben's Seven.One Studios in 2012 (formerly Red Arrow Studios).
Celador International and the rights and associated properties of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? were acquired by Dutch group 2waytraffic, eventually becoming part of Sony Pictures Television. In 2004, Celador commenced legal action against The Walt Disney Company for what it claimed were unpaid profits from the American version of the programme, licensed by Disney for its ABC TV channel. At a jury trial in Los Angeles in June 2010, Celador was awarded $269m (£177m) in damages after the jury ruled that it failed to receive a fair share of profits.[4]
As of 2022, CPL Productions is making a new version of You Are What You Eat with Trisha Goddard and Amir Khan for Channel 5 and has teamed up with the Ranga Bee[5] production company to make a six-part comedy series, written and created by Romesh Ranganathan and Benjamin Green for BBC Studios,[6] calledAvoidance.
Celador previously owned twenty-seven UK commercial radio stations including The Breeze and Sam FM networks and Fire Radio. In January 2017 Celador Radio acquired Anglian Radio's five stations (North Norfolk Radio, Radio Norwich, The Beach, Town 102 and Dream 100) which broadcast across the Anglian region.[34] In 2019 Celador Radio disposed of its entire radio division to Bauer Media.[35]
The final portfolio comprised the following radio stations, which were sold to Bauer Radio in February 2019.
Paul Smith is chairman of Celador Entertainment Limited which is the parent company for Celador Films, Celador Radio, Celador Theatrical and Lusam Music.
Ellis Watson was the CEO until 2003. Following the new structure of Celador's previous constituent divisions, Celador Productions, (renamed CPL Productions) is now run by managing director (since 2003) Danielle Lux. Christian Colson left Celador Films as Managing Director in 2009 to form Cloud Nine Films, now renamed Cloud Eight Films.
In the last few years, former managing director Adrian Woolfe[37] has teamed up with Claudia Rosencrantz,[38] the person who commissioned Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? originally at ITV, to launch the Studio 1 production company and an entertainment news network called LIT,[39] [40] [41] which has been available to stream via Peacock since January 2021.