TV: Sony investment in Bad Wolf brings ambitions of growth

Sony has said its £50m investment in the Welsh makers of His Dark Materials could propel it to become Europe's biggest drama producer.

Cardiff-based Bad Wolf sold a majority stake to Sony Pictures and said the deal would allow it to expand.

Sony's Wayne Garvie said Bad Wolf had yet to reach its "zenith" and would continue to grow.

It is the largest UK production company outside London and will co-produce Doctor Who with the BBC from 2023.

The investment by Sony Pictures is understood to be between £50m and £60m.

Mr Garvie, Sony Pictures' president of international production, worked with Bad Wolf founders Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner at the BBC.

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Tranter and Gardner were responsible for bringing the production of Doctor Who to Cardiff in 2005, and cited that positive experience as one of the reasons why they established Bad Wolf in Splott in 2015.

The name Bad Wolf is a reference to an entity in the first series of Doctor Who that was made in Wales.

It is hoped more big productions - like His Dark Materials - will come to Cardiff

Since 2015, it has produced the Philip Pullman trilogy His Dark Materials, the drama Industry for the BBC - which it has just finished the second series of - as well as A Discovery of Witches for Sky.

Mr Garvie said: "We have invested in a company that has not reached its zenith.

"We have [another] company called Left Bank Pictures who make The Crown, which you may have watched, and which is Britain's biggest drama company. And we built that together with the founders of the company over about eight years or so.

"And we want to do the same with Bad Wolf. There is no reason why Bad Wolf should not be or could not be the biggest drama producer in Britain and in Europe. And that is our ambition."

Jane Tranter and author Philip Pullman discuss the production of His Dark Materials

Mr Garvie said Wales' recent history in producing high-end TV and film helped the decision to invest.

"One of the things we found really attractive about Bad Wolf was the passion they had for Wales, the people in Wales and their commitment to Wales," he added.

Tranter, Bad Wolf's chief executive, said: "The kind of television dramas that Bad Wolf produces are huge. It is a very scary thing to do.

"We love it, and we want to go on and do bigger shows. But there comes a point when we have to acknowledge that in order to produce on an increasing scale and ambition, we need to take a partner and collaborator and investor with us on that journey."

Ms Tranter said Sony's experience would help "stabilise" the company, but she wanted the investment to propel it into the "next phase of its journey".

It is hoped Bad Wolf can become a catalyst to create jobs in the film and drama industries

Tom Ware, director of production and performance at the University of South Wales (USW), said Bad Wolf had boosted the creative industries.

"The kind of content they produce - big, high-end TV dramas that can be distributed globally - has put Welsh screen industries on the map.

"It has also contributed massively to the development of talent across a wide range of areas - obviously production, but also animation, visual effects and lots of other areas of the screen industries that were here before they came, but Bad Wolf's presence has kick-started their development."

To address sometimes chronic shortages of crews, Bad Wolf has developed its own training and worked with education providers to recruit new staff.

Mr Ware said more than 100 USW graduates had gone on to work at the production company, adding: "It has been great for all educational institutions in Wales, but more to the point it has been a huge boost for the Welsh economy."

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