Eleven (company) explained

Eleven Film
Type:Subsidiary
Parent:Sony Pictures Television (2020–present)
Industry:Television
Film
Genre:Scripted
Non-scripted
Location City:14–18 Great Titchfield Street, London W1W 8BD
Key People:Jamie Campbell
Joel Wilson
Carissa Hope Lynch

Eleven is a British television production company founded by Jamie Campbell and Joel Wilson and owned by Sony Pictures Television. It was formed in 2006 and was the first drama production company to benefit from the Channel 4 Growth Fund, set up to nurture independent creative companies based in the UK.

Eleven produces scripted and non-scripted content for the UK and international markets.

History

Eleven was founded in 2006 by Jamie Campbell and Joel Wilson, named so due to the initial number of projects being undertaken by the pair.

The Channel 4 Growth Fund took a minority stake in Eleven in 2014, making it the first drama production company to benefit from their £20m fund.[1]

In April 2020, Sony Pictures Television acquired a significant stake in Eleven Film,[2] including Channel 4's stake.[3]

Productions

Early significant output includes the critically acclaimed,[4] multi-award[5] [6] nominated series Glue, an eight-part mystery drama for E4 written by multi-BAFTA winner Jack Thorne,[7] starring Yasmin Paige, Billy Howle, Callum Turner, Charlotte Spencer, Jordan Stephens, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge; Gap Year, a comedy drama written by Tom Basden and the first UK TV scripted series to film in China[8] for E4; BAFTA-Nominated The Enfield Haunting, a drama series starring Timothy Spall, Juliet Stevenson and Matthew Macfadyen for Sky Living; and BAFTA-nominated Cast Offs for Channel 4.

The company's most successful project to date is Sex Education, a four series drama for Netflix released in 2019 and created by Laurie Nunn. The series received critical acclaim for its ensemble cast, writing, directing, production values, and mature treatment of its themes, with over 40 million viewers streaming the first series after its debut. The series has won two BAFTA TV Awards and the third series won Best Comedy at the 50th International Emmy Awards. Production for the fourth and final season of Sex Education was confirmed to be underway in August 2022 and it premiered on 21 September 2023.

In August 2019, BBC Three commissioned Red Rose,[9] an eight part horror series created by The Clarkson Twins, which was released on BBC iPlayer on 15 August 2022.

In February 2020, it was announced that Netflix had commissioned a 10-part political drama named White Stork to be produced by Eleven.[10] The series' cast was due to feature Tom Hiddleston as lead, with Claire Foy also rumoured to have been offered a role.[11] Production was halted in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused scheduling conflicts for Hiddleston.

In May 2022, the BBC and STAN commissioned a new series titled Ten Pound Poms, a drama about the British citizens who migrated to Australia after the Second World War, with filming commencing in Australia shortly after. The series premiered in May 2023 and won Best Series at the 62nd Monte-Carlo Television Festival.[12] In February 2024, the BBC confirmed a second series had been commissioned.[13]

An eight-part mystery thriller, which centres around a young deaf woman, titled I.D., was announced by Channel 4 in August 2022. The series was created by Genevieve Barr. [14]

In September 2022, it was announced that Eleven was co-developing a series adaptation of M.L. Rio's thriller novel, If We Were Villains, with Canadian production company Blink49 Studios.[15]

In April 2023, the BBC announced that Eleven would produce the first ever television adaptation of 1954 novel Lord of the Flies by Nobel Prize-winning British author William Golding. The executive producers are set to be Joel Wilson and Jamie Campbell for Eleven, Jack Thorne for One Shoe Films and Nawfal Faizullah.[16]

In October 2023, it was announced that Eleven would be adapting Jeffrey Archer's best-selling Kane and Abel trilogy.[17]

Paramount+ announced in November 2023 that it had commissioned a new original drama from Eleven, Stags. Principal photography commenced on location in Tenerife the same month. The cast includes Nico Mirallegro, Charlie Cooper, Paul Forman and Asim Chaudhry. David Kerr was announced as lead director.[18] The series was released on 15 August 2024.[19]

Drama / Comedy!Year!Title!Distributor
2025 (expected) Lord of the FliesBBC One
2024StagsParamount+
2023–presentTen Pound PomsBBC One, Stan
2022Red RoseBBC Three, Netflix
2019–2023Sex EducationNetflix
2018True HorrorChannel 4
2016Gap Year E4
2015The Enfield HauntingSky Living
RottersSky Arts
2014Glue E4
2013Mr UnderstoodSky Arts
2010Rick and PeterChannel 4
2009Cast Offs
Documentary!Year!Title!Distributor
2015The Secret Life of the PubChannel 4
2009My Breasts Could Kill MeSky One
2008The Murder of Billie-JoChannel 4
2007Being Maxine Carr
Cyberskiving
Make Me A Virgin
Getting to GordonBBC Newsnight
2006Candid Cameron

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Channel 4 announces fifth Growth Fund investment – Eleven Film. channel4.com. 10 September 2015.
  2. News: Sony Pictures Television Poised To Invest In ‘Sex Education’ Producer Eleven. 25 April 2020. 1 July 2020.
  3. News: Sony Pictures Television Acquires ‘Sex Education’ Producer Eleven. 30 June 2020. 1 July 2020.
  4. Web site: Glue final episode review, Channel 4: 'audacious'. 22 September 2015.
  5. Web site: Bafta TV awards 2015: Winners in full. BBC News. 22 September 2015.
  6. Web site: Televisual NEWS & COMMENTS. www.televisual.com. 22 September 2015. Televisual Media Ltd. UK. 4 March 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304070016/http://www.televisual.com/news-detail/2015-Music-and-Sound-Awards-finalists-announced_nid-5112.html. dead.
  7. Web site: Glue TV Series. Channel4. 16 September 2014.
  8. News: Gap Year, E4. Broadcast. 11 January 2018. en.
  9. Web site: BBC – BBC Three announces new original horror series Red Rose – Media Centre. www.bbc.co.uk. 9 September 2019.
  10. News: Tom Hiddleston To Star In Netflix Political Thriller Series ‘White Stork’. 20 February 2020. 22 August 2022.
  11. News: Claire Foy Offered Key Role in ‘WHITE STORK’ with Tom Hiddleston. 19 September 2020. 24 August 2022.
  12. News: ‘Ten Pound Poms,’ ‘The Fragile Colossus,’ ‘The Seed’ Triumph at Monte-Carlo Television Festival . 21 June 2023 . Variety.
  13. News: BBC announces second series of hit drama Ten Pound Poms with Michelle Keegan set to return . 1 February 2024 . BBC Media Centre.
  14. News: Channel 4 commissions thrilling and irreverent new drama, I.D. (wt) from Genevieve Barr. 24 August 2022. 22 September 2022.
  15. News: ‘If We Were Villains’: Blink49 Studios And ‘Sex Education’ Producer Eleven Team To Adapt M.L. Rio's Thriller As Series. 27 September 2022. 28 September 2022.
  16. News: BBC announces first TV adaptation of William Golding's Lord of the Flies. 20 April 2023. 20 April 2023.
  17. News: Eleven, Sony to adapt Jeffrey Archer trilogy. 10 October 2023. 11 April 2023.
  18. Web site: Paramount+ Sets Bachelor Party Gone Wrong Series From ‘Sex Education’ Producer Eleven. 15 November 2023.
  19. Web site: First look at Stags from Sex Education producers, with Passenger and This Country stars. Radio Times. 10 June 2024 . 2 July 2024.