10/03/2009

Christian Colson, the producer of multiple award winning box office smash Slumdog Millionaire [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Danny Boyle
film profile] and Joint Managing Director of Celador Productions, is leaving the company and setting up his own venture, Cloud Nine Films. The new venture has signed a five-year development, production, sales and distribution deal with Pathe UK.

With Celador, Colson has shepherded projects like The Descent [+see also:
trailer
film profile], Eden Lake [+see also:
trailer
film profile] and Separate Lies, apart from Slumdog. Through Celador, he already had close links with Pathe. He will also continue his relationship with Celador, keeping his shares in the company, while Celador Chairman Paul Smith will serve as a director on Cloud Nine’s board.

Colson’s existing projects with Celador will now be in conjunction with Pathe and Cloud Nine. These include Selma, an original screenplay from Paul Webb telling the story of Martin Luther King, Lyndon Baines Johnson and the 1965 civil rights marches that changed America; Centurion, an epic by writer/director Neil Marshall (The Descent) about the legendary legion of Roman soldiers who disappeared in Scotland in AD 87; The Scouting Book for Boys, a coming-of-age tale from writer Jack Thorne and director Tom Harper, starring Thomas Turgoose (This Is England [+see also:
trailer
film profile]); and Jon Harris’ sequel to The Descent, which is awaiting a May 2009 release.

Colson joined the talent agency London Management in 1994, representing writers. He joined start-up UK film production company HAL Films in 1998 as a development executive and became Head of Development within a year. In 2000 he joined Miramax Films as Head of Development UK. Colson moved to Celador Films as Head of Production & Development in June 2002, and was promoted to Joint Managing Director in March 2005.