23/01/2003

US major Sony Pictures Entertainment has signed a first-look deal with UK-based film and TV production company World Productions, run by two highly regarded veterans of the British film industry: Tony Garnett and John Heyman.
Garnett produced Ken Loach’s landmark films Kes and Family Life as well as films by Julian Temple (Earth Girls Are Easy), and Roland Joffé (Fat Man & Little Boy). Heyman has been active in the UK film business since the early 60s as an agent (notably to Elizabeth Taylor), packager and co-financier for many US studios productions including Awakenings, Black Rain, Chinatown and Edward Scissorhands. In 1990 he co-founded Island World with Chris Blackwell, involved in music, production and distribution of film and TV programmes. Island was sold to PolyGram in 1994, but World continues to produce for cinema and television under the leadership of Tony Garnett.
Since then World has focused on producing UK TV series (Between the Lines, Ballykissangel) but has a feature film project in pre-production for the BBC: Love Again with Tara Fitzgerald.
Commenting on the deal with World Productions, Sony Pictures’ chairman and CEO John Calley said: “Our partnership will give us greater access to the creative community in the UK and furthers our commitment to global productions”.