Gateshead production company Motif is among 10 independent production houses nationwide who will receive support from Channel 4’s 2022 Emerging Indie Fund to help boost growth.
Motif was established in 2020 by James Craggs and Tautyvdas Baranauskas and will receive a range of support and guidance to help supercharge its broadcast slate.
The company currently employs five staff to produce scripted and non-scripted programmes from the region, it is focused on growth and winning commissions from a range of broadcasters and streamers.
Lisa Laws, head of talent and business development at North East Screen said: “This is a huge achievement and we are delighted for Motif as they are a perfect example of an exciting new local production company understanding what TV commissioners want, being good at pitching and cleverly identifying the next step for their business.
North East Screen and the North East Comedy Hot House have worked with James and Tautyvdas and supported Motif on their 3 year journey from producing Channel 4 Sparks (a platform for short videos) and BBC Laugh Lessons (original short comedy sketches). We can’t wait to see how the Emerging Indie Fund will make a difference to this developing and innovative North East company.”
Craggs, MD at Motif added: “We established the business through lockdown and have worked hard to understand the commissioning mindset of broadcasters. We are constantly looking at the small steps we can take to move forward and are open minded and adaptable. We’ve learned to listen and understand what commissioners want and apply it to our ideas.
“The Emerging Indie Fund felt like the next logical step and will provide us with practical support and a chance to grow our regional based company becoming more established in the industry and the North East. We won the fund for Comedy and are accepting submissions from talent in the scripted comedy genre. If local comedy writers and performers are interested they can send submissions to hello@motifpictures.co.uk.”
Companies in the Emerging Indie Fund benefit from a range of support which includes: financial assistance for slate development, regular access to a Channel 4 Commissioning Editor, development workshops and expert advice from a variety of departments within Channel 4.
