BBC Studios has struck an investment and distribution deal with Bonafide Films, the producer of buzzy BBC breakout drama Mood and Peter Moffatt’s The Last Post.
The deal will see BBC Studios invest in the London-based producer’s development slate and take first look on projects for distribution. Bonafide previously had a first–look deal with Lionsgate, which was inked more than six years ago.
Bonafide, which is run by Margery Bone, is currently working on projects with the likes of Rocks’ Sarah Gavron, Wolf Hall’s Peter Straughan and Killling Eve writer / director Miranda Bowen, along with a string of new talent.
Bonafide and BBC Studios already partnered on Nicôle Lecky’s Mood and the producer-distributor brokered the co-production deal with BBC America in the U.S. while selling the show to 12 territories. The BAFTA and RTS-winning BBC Three musical drama was based on Lecky’s play Superhoe and followed the auteur’s quest for fame. Bonafide also made The Last Post for the BBC, which was written by Your Honor scribe Moffat and starred Jessie Buckley in a family stationed in the Middle East during the 1960s Aden Emergency.
The deal comes at a time of expansion for Bonafide, with the recent appointment of Tom Dunbar as an Executive Producer, who joined Bone and fellow EP Zander Levy.
BBC Studios Scripted President Mark Linsey hailed Bonafide’s “talent-led dramas of exceptional quality.”
Bone said: “In a highly competitive market, it’s distinctive stories by incredible talents that cut through to audiences and we’re delighted that BBC Studios shares our vision and drive. This investment builds on our existing relationship and hugely expands on our ambitions for the future, for which we can’t wait.”