Want some inspiration boys? Here is a story from today's Guardian. If we can achieve a hundedth of this success I would die a happy man. Nolz.

The creative partnership behind some of Britain's most successful comedy formats, including Have I Got News For You, Father Ted, and Drop the Dead Donkey, yesterday reaped the rewards of 17 years of creating TV hits by selling 45% of their company for £23m.

Denise O'Donoghue and Jimmy Mulville, who founded Hat Trick Productions in 1986 and have grown it into a £20m per year business, will bank £11.25m each from the deal with venture capital firm Kleinwort Capital.

Hat Trick blazed a trail for independent production companies at a time when almost everything on TV was made by either the BBC or ITV broadcasters such as Granada, Thames or LWT.

Mr Mulville ruled out an acquisition spree following the deal, saying that Hat Trick already had ambitious plans for the next 12 months, with three major dramas in the pipeline and a 200% increase in half-hour comedy programming. Hat Trick's slate includes a two-part BBC drama based on the Stephen Downing case and a BBC1 comedy vehicle for Neil Pearson, famous for his role in Drop the Dead Donkey.

"This is not about suddenly doing genetically modified Hat Trick productions. We were going there anyway. But we like the comfort of having a muscular financial partner on board and that is why they have paid this tariff, if you like. We will not suddenly start piling millions into buying new offices and having office blocks full of writers," he said.

Pipeline plans

Mr Mulville, a former comic actor and presenter, said it would expand partly by signing long-term deals with leading writers and producers. Earlier this year Hat Trick formed Gasp Productions, a joint venture with comedy writing and producing team Anil Gupta, Sharat Sardana and Richard Pinto, whose previous credits include Goodness Gracious Me, The Kumars at No 42 and The Office. Gasp is Hat Trick's second joint venture, three years after setting up 12 Yards with the former BBC head of light entertainment, David Young.

"People are recognising more and more the value of very good creative leaders, producers and writers. There is a real rush to get your hands on really good people," said Mr Mulville.

Kleinwort's investment reflects the value of a creative team that can churn out long-running comedy and entertainment formats and also has the commercial clout to retain the rights to those shows. Thanks to the tenacity of Ms O'Donoghue and commercial strategy head Hilary Strong, who owns 4% of the business, Hat Trick is a rare example of an independent producer keeping a strong grip on the secondary rights to its programmes. The Kumars at No 42, the hit BBC2 comedy show where celebrities are interviewed by an Indian family, makes its US debut in the autumn, to be followed by versions in Australia, Germany and Israel.

Developments in the Communications Act, which only became law yesterday, have also resurrected the interest of City investors who had their fingers burnt in the dotcom and media bubble three years ago. It will introduce changes to terms of trade between broadcasters and independent producers, who have long complained that programming quotas have done little to protect their interests and they are powerless to stop networks exploiting the commercial rights to their output.

However, Ms O'Donoghue poured cold water on inevitable speculation that the independent production sector will be swamped by acquisitive venture capital firms over the next 12 months. "Clearly it will raise some hope but it's absolutely crucial that the hope is backed up by business evidence which makes it worth venture capital companies getting involved. The market is very difficult. If the Communications Act enables producers to retain rights, to have a more advantageous intellectual property position, it would be easier. A deregulated market should help ... at the end of the day there are a thousand production companies chasing very few hours," she said.

Other areas of the act could have just as much influence on Hat Trick's future. Mr Mulville and Ms O'Donoghue, both 48, still own over 50% of the business and insist they are "not the retiring types", but the act's lifting of restrictions on US companies buying ITV and Channel Five increase the likelihood of a tie-up with a stateside broadcaster in a few years' time. Venture capital firms usually wait three or five years before seeking a return on their investments and a trade sale is a more likely option than a flotation. "I think that is a strong possibility, not least because we have had Whose Line Is It Anyway? on ABC and The Ortegas, the US version of the Kumars at No 42, starts on Fox in November. We are very well known in the US ... When there was a bullish market in these transactions we were approached by two studios in the US," said Ms O'Donoghue.

Value for money

Yesterday's deal values the business at £51m, close to the £62m that Pearson paid for Griff Rhys-Jones' and Mel Smith's TalkBack in 2000. In the year to June 2002, Hat Trick's turnover grew from £12.5m to £20.3, while an operating loss of £37,000 was turned into an operating profit of £841,000. This year, Hat Trick is expected to post a profit of £4m.

There is no sign of a gold-rush for the cash-strapped independent sector - there are about 1,000 companies and less than 20 have sizeable turnovers - but the bigger producers are attracting interest. Former ITV programming boss David Liddiment and former Granada chief executive Steve Morrison are currently negotiating the venture capital-backed acquisition of Chrysalis TV, whose shows include Midsomer Murders and Richard & Judy, for an estimated £40m.

- posted by Wallypuss @ 12:27 am

 
Dear Ssorc and Xiox.

It's Nolzy here, fresh from the lake district of Tobermory. Anna's parents are with us for a few days so we took them up there to the juncture of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, where the waters are crystal clear and the beer is cold and fresh. Anna's 30th today so Moet is in the fridge and a top restaurant booked tonight as the folks are paying.

Anna's Dad is a brainiac who can talk about any subject for hours on end so there were many great ideas for stories. One of the topics included the story of BA Santamaria and Mannix and the struggle with the ALP in Melbourne of the 60's. Sounds like lots of work, but it would make a great mini-series. And we could use Bob and Joan as advisers. I'm big on adapting real life stories for screen at the moment. I'm also interested in the first people to leave Africa across the Bering Strait.

Xioxy - you have a wonderful playful style that keeps coming through each time. The story of Weill has all the trademark whimsy and adventure you do so well. It is definitely in the fanciful absurdist genre of Monty Python and their tales. The key to advancing this beyond a simple tale is to have a plot which sees Weill develop as a character (eg scoffed at by others initially for his grandiose ideas, then rising above them to claim victory and adulation). I suggest he needs a foe (the Faculty of Science), a lover (Artemesia Camloops), and throw in an old mentor for good measure (Melvin Scheemeister). Make up some kind of scandal for him too and give him some awful weakness (like cumulous clouds).

By the way - got my mark back for Last Man Sitting. 19.5 out of 20 or 97.5% I dont know where she pulled the half mark from!!! Says she loved it and wants a copy to show other students.

Noosey - well done uncle.

Speak soon

Ssorc - can I attach Word files to this or not?
- posted by Wallypuss @ 2:52 am