BFI Invests In David Abraham’s Wonderhood Studios Via UK Creative Content EIS Fund

Peter White

Click here to read the full article.

The British Film Insitute (BFI) has invested in David Abraham’s production company Wonderhood Studios.

The film body has made its first investment with the deal, via the UK Creative Content EIS Fund, which it launched earlier this summer in association with Calculus Capital and Stargrove Pictures.

More from Deadline

This comes after Deadline revealed that Wonderhood Studios, launched last year by former Channel 4 CEO and ex-TLC U.S. boss Abraham, scored its first two commissions with the BBC.

It is making Eat The Years, starring celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal, and Trump In Tweets for the BBC and has also scored commissions with C4 as well as a BBC One project in advanced development.

Wonderhood’s advertising studio also recently created a campaign recognizing the contribution of black players to England’s football team for Nike.

Abraham said, “Wonderhood is a new generation creative business focused on innovative content that impacts on culture. As we look to scale, the investment from the UK Creative Content EIS Fund allows us to deliver our plans faster and to begin to explore genres such as drama sooner.”

The UK Creative Content EIS Fund was launched by Calculus Capital and Stargrove Pictures in June following a BFI report chaired by Lionsgate UK CEO Zygi Kamasa. The report highlighted a shortfall in independent finance to help successful UK screen content companies scale up. The fund has targeted an initial fund raise of £20m and is aiming to double a client’s investment, in addition to the tax benefits associated with EIS. Wonderhood will use the new money to scale up, build its team and develop new productions.

Amanda Nevill, Chief Executive Officer of the BFI, said, “Calculus has identified a strong pipeline of investment opportunities for the UK Creative Content EIS Fund in the UK film and screen content sector, already worth almost £8 billion to the UK and growing to meet international demand for UK creativity, innovation and talent. We are very excited about its first investment with Wonderhood through the fund which is setting out to support innovative content companies working across film and broader screen storytelling.”

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.