StudioCanal in U.K. TV, Film Banner with ‘Inbetweeners’ Star

StudioCanal is bolstering its U.K. presence with a new TV and film banner.

Guilty Party is being set up by Brits Simon Bird, Jonny Sweet and Spencer Millman, and will fall under the creative supervision of Nicola Shindler, founder of indie TV hit-maker Red Productions, in which StudioCanal took a stake two years ago.

Bird is best known on British screens as one of the main castmembers in hit Channel 4 comedy series The Inbetweeners and its two spinoff films, but also has starred in Friday Night Dinner and co-created Chickens for Sky. Sweet worked on Chickens with Bird, but also starred in the series Him and Her, while Millman is a producer who has worked with Sacha Baron Cohen on Bo Selecta’ and The Inbetweeners 2.

Romain Bessi, COO, CFO and head of TV series at StudioCanal, said the move was a “fantastic opportunity” for the Vivendi-owned French major to become the “main house for European talents” in television. “This is the beginning of a nice European journey,” he added.

Shindler, whose Red is behind such acclaimed shows as Queer as Folk, Happy Valley and Last Tango in Halifax, said it was a “privilege to be working with some of the funniest and most talented names in comedy.”

StudioCanal, which owns a 25 percent stake in Guilty Party, will oversee worldwide distribution.