• This Country producers’ new UK-based independent TV and film production company Camden Productions receives Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) funding

• Great Point’s investment increases its commitment to supporting the UK’s media and creative industries 

Great Point, the UK’s leading independent media investment firm, has today announced it has invested in Camden Productions, an independent TV and film production company whose team has a track record of producing multi-award-winning, creatively acclaimed and commercially successful scripted comedy and comedy-drama. 

Great Point’s backing will combine financial investment with its unrivalled media industry expertise and contacts to help Camden take advantage of the buoyant global market for compelling comedy and high-end scripted series, build a valuable slate of IP and create a production hub for new formats and returning series.

The investment is the 8th from Great Point’s Ventures EIS Fund and underlines the fact that EIS investment in the media sector is thriving following HMRC’s changes in 2018 after the Patient Capital Review.

Jim Reeve, Co-Founder of Great Point said:  In spite of the huge hit to the production community in recent weeks, it’s important that we continue to look to the future and invest now to help ensure the ongoing success of the UK’s creative industries post Covid-19. The Camden team has an impressive reputation for crafting content that captures the attention of audiences. Our support at this time will help Camden’s next stage growth, meaning we’ll see more of their fantastic work on screen in future.

Camden Productions was founded in 2020 by Simon Mayhew-Archer and Stephen McCrum with a focus on ambitious, high-quality scripted comedy and comedy drama. Simon Mayhew-Archer is one of the UK’s leading TV comedy producers, best known for Daisy May Cooper and Charlie Cooper’s This Country (BBC One and BBC Three) which recently recorded over 52 million iPlayer requests as well as winning the 2018 BAFTA and RTS awards for Best Sitcom. Stephen McCrum’s most recent hits as producer and executive producer include This Country and Brendan O’Carroll’s multi-award-winning global smash Mrs. Brown’s Boys, for which he also produced the Universal Pictures/BBC Films No1 theatrical release Mrs. Brown’s Boys D’Movie.  

Simon Mayhew-Archer said: “What the hell am I meant to write in a press release about launching a new production company during a global pandemic? Ideas welcome. Thanks. (Which is my way of saying Stephen and I are incredibly excited to be starting Camden and very grateful to Great Point for putting their faith in us. We have already started working with some fantastic writers and performers and can’t wait to bring cheer to the living rooms, hearts, and cellularly connected mobile devices of the world).”

The deal was brokered by DoveTale Media, who will also be providing an Executive Producer consultancy service in respect of Camden Productions’ international business.

The Great Point Ventures EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) Fund will continue to invest in a diversified portfolio of growth businesses operating in the UK media and creative industries which contributes £101.5bn to the economy (DCMS Nov 2018) and has grown at a rate almost double that of the economy as a whole. Inward investment into the UK’s film and television production industry reached a record high of £1.69 billion in 2017 (BFI 2018).