NEWS
News
06. 10. 19
BEN BOND & BEN THOMPSON LAUNCH
PRODUCTION COMPANY STARCROSS ENTERTAINMENT
BACKED BY RAFIC SAID (BLACKSTONE) THE COMPANY WILL DEVELOP, FINANCE AND PRODUCE BROADCAST & SVOD PROGRAMMING
The former Hoot Comedy and Big Man Pictures partners, Ben Bond and Ben Thompson, have launched their new production company Starcross Entertainment, it was announced today. Based in London, Starcross Entertainment will create content for SVOD and is a TV and film Production company backed by a mix of institutional and private finance.
Long-time colleagues, Bond and Thompson conceived the company whilst at Big Man Pictures, where they were central to the success of features The Drifters (2019) and The Hungry (Amazon 2018)
At Starcross they will develop, finance and produce work across multiple platforms, focusing on premium scripted drama for SVOD. Ben Bond said: “We are thrilled to develop stories that we believe are built for today's demanding global audience and are delighted to be teaming up with some incredible talent on our first projects who's reach and resources are the perfect complement to us as we grow our team and slate.”
“I am thrilled to be working with Starcross as they have an unrelenting passion to develop and curate shows for a global audience. I am genuinely excited to be working alongside them to fulfil some immensely original and fresh shows for SVOD.” said Wonder Woman 1984 producer and Starcross executive producer Jason Crain.
Ben Bond's career to date has seen him start as producer for Pete Tong and Trevor Nelson at BBC RADIO 1; he has written for BAFTA winning series SKINS and the movie KILLING BONO for Paramount; directed some of the most successful commercials on TV; and he was most recently executive producer on THE HUNGRY starring Tisca Chopra and Nasrudeen Shah. His directorial debut THE DRIFTERS for Creative England and Starcross premiered at the Sao Paulo International Film Festival in 2019. He is also responsible for creative strategy and shaping the overall film & TV slate at Starcross. These include scale pieces for TV that have been developed and financed either in-house or as a co-production. Ben has created the flagship series WHISKY WARS, a returning period drama with the support of DIAGEO, the world's leading whisky producer.
Ben Thompson started his career at Working Title and has spent the last 20 years working for various media organisations. Until March 2017 he was the CEO of The Hoot Group. A creative producer in his own right, Ben is the creator of the series GAMERS and co-creator of BROOKLANDS, a returning period drama developed with Anthony Horowitz (FOYLES WAR) and Jill Green at ELEVENTH HOUR FILMS for ITV1.
Long term Head of Development, Iona Sweeney, will join them to oversee the slate, while Amon Z. Mian Mahmud also joins the company across finance and strategy. Andy Brunskill, Screen Leader of Tomorrow Cannes 2018 (THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL, JANE EYRE, TAMARA DREWE, THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS, CHATROOM, BRICK LANE and the 7 Emmy Award winning TEMPLE GRANDIN) is a consulting producer across the slate.
ABOUT RAFIC SAID:
Rafic Said is a Senior Managing Director at Blackstone overseeing activities in the Middle-East, and is based between London and Dubai. He has spent the past eleven years establishing, developing and managing relationships with governmental, institutional and private investors across the Middle East, delivering the firm’s investment and advisory services. Rafic is also a member of the Blackstone Diversity Committee. Before joining Blackstone, Mr. Said was an Executive Director at Goldman Sachs & Co. for seven years, focused on institutional client management in Europe and the Middle East for the firm’s Fixed Income, Currency & Commodities Division. Rafic started his career at Robert Fleming in the Equity Capital Markets Group, covering emerging market corporate and government clients.