NFTS Signs First Look Deal with Endemol Shine UK

The NFTS has signed a deal with Endemol Shine UK , one of the UK’s largest independent production companies, which grants a first look at graduation projects from the School’s Directing and Producing Television Entertainment MA.

102 NFTS Alumni Credits at 2018 Edinburgh Film Festival

This year, an incredible 102 NFTS students and graduates are credited across the feature films and short films selected for and in competition at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival, which takes place from the 20th June until the 1st July. NFTS graduation animations; Inanimate directed by Lucia Bulgheroni and Facing It directed by Sam Gainsborough are to compete for the McLaren Award for Best New British Animation at the festival, which was won last year by NFTS graduation animation, Poles Apart, directed by Paloma Baeza.

NFTS Leads the Way in 2018 Student RTS Television Awards with 19 Nominations

Nominations have been announced for this year’s Royal Television Society (RTS) Student Television Awards and the NFTS leads the way in the postgraduate categories with an incredible 19 nominations overall. These include eight nominations for graduation programmes and films in the Animation; Comedy and Entertainment; Drama; and Factual categories plus two nominations in the Short Feature category for projects made by NFTS students as part of the annual Kodak Student Commercial Awards.

Ingenious-backed Calibre, the debut feature from UK writer-director Matt Palmer, has taken the top prize at the 72nd Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF, June 20-July 1).

The film, which received its world premiere at the festival and has a worldwide release on Netflix on June 28, received the Michael Powell award for best British feature film.

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Ingenious is rolling out a £100m TV-focused venture capital fund to help early-stage production businesses grow while maintaining their independence.

The investment firm’s Vision fund – which is overseen by ex-Field Day Chief Executive Debbie Manners together with Ingenious Investment Director Harry Eastwood – is intended to help fledgling indies access growth capital without tying themselves into restrictive deals with distributors or broadcasters.

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Under the new partnership, Ingenious will cover 50% of the equity investment required to fund each picture produced and financed by AGC as well as providing additional debt financing.

Part of AGC Capital, AGC Studios is a new content creation and global licensing studio recently launched by IM Global founder and former CEO Stuart Ford.

The fast growing AGC announced the hiring of Academy Award® winning film producer Greg Shapiro as its head of film in March. Ingenious Media has also made a string of senior appointments in recent months, including Will Harrison, previously Chief Commercial Officer for the Harry Potter Franchise Group at Warner Bros, as Managing Director and film finance veteran, Peter Touche, as Head of Film.

Peter Touche brokered the co-financing deal with AGC Studios COO Miguel Palos.

We are delighted to be supporting Stuart and his excellent team of veteran film industry professionals in bringing premium content to worldwide audiences.

Neil Forster

CEO at Ingenious

I have had a longstanding and very successful relationship with Ingenious in the past and so we are delighted to continue and indeed expand upon that via our new studio AGC as we look to build an industry leading premium film and TV content company.

Stuart Ford

AGC Studios

As a longstanding and proud supporter of Inside Pictures, Ingenious hosted this year’s Networking Drinks and Module 1 activities.

Inside Pictures is an intensive film business training and leadership development programme presented by the National Film and Television School. Supported by Creative Europe and Creative Skillset, the programme is for film industry executives from all disciplines and is designed to develop the skills needed to lead successful businesses.

Wednesday evening’s Networking Drinks was a great opportunity to meet some of this year’s Inside Pictures participants and to discover more about the important space that the programme fills for industry professionals. It was a great evening attended by a wealth of creative talent and the participants are certainly set to benefit from the experience.

Will Harrison

Managing Director

Investment Director of Ingenious Media, Andrea Scarso, was a member of the 2017 Inside Pictures class. Through the programme, Andrea gained a better understanding of the global film business and the key players within it, along with a deeper insight into marketing strategy and audience analysis. Perhaps most importantly, Andrea expanded his network of key industry contacts across the globe.

“Inside Pictures is one of the only executive training programmes in the film business that could really add value to your career.  The speakers, ambassadors, participants, alumni and the team running Inside Pictures are all top executives in the industry, therefore providing a network of unrivalled value.”

Ingenious is proud to be the largest sponsor of the award-winning NFTS. Since 2009, we have continued to be the NFTS’s biggest sponsor with both Patrick McKenna and Neil Forster sitting on the Board. Over the years, we have taken the lead on multiple initiatives including a £15 million redevelopment programme, doubling the availability of courses and student places, as well as opening a brand new school in Scotland. The prize consists of a silver-gilt medallion and a Prize Certificate signed by HM The Queen. “The world’s best film school”
The Observer

The world’s best film school

The Observer

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Filming of the new Ingenious-funded Judy Garland biopic Judy, starring Renee Zellweger, continued in London this week. Set in 1969, the film tells the story of Garland arriving in London to perform a sell-out run of shows at the Talk of the Town nightclub. Judy will recount some of Garland’s final performances ahead of her eventual death in June of that year, and has been scripted by Pride and The Crown writers David Livingstone and Tom Edge.

Read more here:

Telegraph
Daily Mail

Filming of the new Ingenious-funded Judy Garland biopic Judy, starring Renee Zellweger, continued in London this week. Set in 1969, the film tells the story of Garland arriving in London to perform a sell-out run of shows at the Talk of the Town nightclub. Judy will recount some of Garland’s final performances ahead of her eventual death in June of that year, and has been scripted by Pride and The Crown writers David Livingstone and Tom Edge.

Read more here:

The Telegraph
Daily Mail

We are delighted to have been shortlisted for Residential Financier of the Year at the RESI Awards 2018, alongside major household names including LaSalle Investment Management, Investec Bank and NatWest. The nomination comes after an excellent year for the division, in which it completed its two largest deals to date – namely a £21m loan to develop residential property at Villiers Point, Kingston, and a £19m loan to construct residential units and office space in London’s Southwark district. The winner will be announced on 16 May 2018 at the Grosvenor House Hotel, London.

You can read more about the awards and see the full shortlist here.

19 February 2018 – Stellata Energy (‘Stellata’), and its joint venture partner, Ingenious Infrastructure, today announces it has successfully reached several milestones in the development of the largest solar project in Western Australia (WA), Merredin Solar Farm (132MWp).  Firstly, the Company has entered into a grid connection contract with Western Power. The deal, signed on 19 December, secures the Interconnection Works Contract (IWC) and Electricity Transfer Access Contract (ETAC) for the project.  During the same month, an Electricity Generation Licence was also granted by the Economic Regulation Authority, making the project the largest solar farm in WA to have reached this point.  Merredin has also now received Certified Reserve Capacity level with AEMO and is expected to sign its EPC contract in March this year. Successfully reaching these milestones ensures that construction remains on track to commence in June 2018, with energisation anticipated for June 2019.

The development of Merredin Solar Farm positions Stellata as one of the leading solar developers in WA, whose partnership with Ingenious commits to funding a pipeline of utility scale solar farms across the state. Together, the partnership brings a wealth of knowledge to the project with collective expertise spanning financing, developing and operating solar projects across the globe.

Commenting on the developments, Guy Beesley, Managing Director, Stellata said: “Securing the generation licence, grid connection and reserve capacity credits for Merredin Solar Farm represents a huge step forward for our partnership and the Merredin project, having only received planning permission in June last year. Now that the contracts are in place, we look forward to commencing construction and furthering our efforts to bring clean, renewable electricity to Western Australians.”