Sky Studios inks first-look script deal with Romesh Ranganathan’s production company, Ranga Bee

Monday 3 February 2020

Deal builds on the success of hit comedy The Reluctant Landlord on Sky One

Sky Studios has signed a first-look script deal with award-winning comedy and entertainment indie Ranga Bee.

Founded by RTS-winner and BAFTA-nominated comedian Romesh Ranganathan and EMMY-winning exec producer and director Benjamin Green, Ranga Bee will work directly with Sky Studios to develop new projects for Sky’s 24m customers across Europe and beyond.

Co-developed projects will be Exec Produced by Jon Mountague, Director of Comedy at Sky Studios. The development funding will also enable Ranga Bee to attract talent to work on the committed projects for Sky Studios.

Co-developed projects will be distributed by NBCUniversal Global Distribution on behalf of Sky Studios.

Ranga Bee already has a strong relationship with Sky following two successful seasons of The Reluctant Landlord, a semi-autobiographical sitcom in which Romesh inherits a pub he doesn’t really want, and Romesh Presents a series of 10 shorts for new and emerging comedy talent on Sky One.

Romesh is also a regular panellist on Sky One’s A League of Their Own, winner of the 2019 BAFTA for Comedy Entertainment Programme.

Gary Davey, CEO of Sky Studios, said: “Romesh has been entertaining Sky customers for years with his unique style of humour and I couldn’t be more excited about this new deal with Romesh, Ben and the whole Ranga Bee team. The Reluctant Landlord is a brilliant show and I look forward to seeing what new scripted comedies we can produce together.”

Romesh Ranganathan and Benjamin Green, founders of Ranga Bee, said: “We set up Ranga Bee to make great comedy shows with both new and established talent and we’re thrilled to be partnering with Sky Studios to help further that ambition. We look forward to making innovative and genuinely funny comedy and comedy dramas together. This is also a great opportunity for Romesh to pretend to support other talent.”

Established in June 2019, Sky Studios is rapidly becoming the leading commissioning and production powerhouse in Europe. With 52 scripted shows currently in production across Europe, and first look deals in place with a range of indies, Sky Studios ambition is to bring unique stories to screen from the very best talent in Europe.

Last year, Sky announced plans for Sky Studios Elstree – a major new TV and film studio with 14 sound stages and attracting £3bn of production spend over the first five years alone.

Set to open in 2022, Sky Studios Elstree represents a significant new investment in the UK and European creative economy by Sky, Comcast and NBCUniversal and will lead to the creation of at least 2,000 jobs.

Notes to Editors

Media Contacts

Sky Studios: Harrison Kelly – Harrison.Kelly@sky.uk / +44 (0) 7817476365

About Sky Studios

Sky Studios brings to screen unique stories from the very best talent in Europe.

We develop, produce and fund original drama, comedy and documentary for Sky’s 24m customers and beyond, with 52 scripted shows already in production. Building on the success of critically-acclaimed Sky originals including Emmy-nominated Chernobyl, Bafta-winning Patrick Melrose and international hits Babylon Berlin and Riviera, Sky Studios is the new creative home of Sky originals, such as The Third Day with Jude Law, ZeroZeroZero from the makers of Gomorrah and The New Pope directed by Academy Award-winning director Paolo Sorrentino.

We’re an agile Studio, seeking out the best untold stories from new voices while working in creative partnership with today’s best writers, producers and on-screen talent to bring viewers stories they wouldn’t find anywhere else.

With commissioning talent and production capability across the UK, Germany and Italy, we understand local tastes across Europe better than anyone else and have plans to more than double our investment in original content by 2024, fully supported and backed by Comcast NBC Universal.

Sky Studios invests in the cultural economy and global production sector with equity stakes in 10 production companies in the UK and the US, including Great British Bake-Off creator Love Productions, and the premiere reality crime producer in the US, Jupiter Entertainment, creator of long-running hit Snapped. Sky Studios has invested in high quality factual specialists Blast Films and True North Productions; entertainment and format expert Znak & Co (US & UK); natural history producer True to Nature; and growth businesses Sugar Films, Avanti Media, Chrysalis Vision, and Talos Films (US).

Sky Studios launched in June 2019. The senior leadership team is Chief Executive Officer Gary Davey, Chief Commercial Officer Jane Millichip, Chief Finance Officer Caroline Cooper, Director of Drama UK Cameron Roach, Director of Comedy UK Jon Mountague, Director Original Production Sky Italia Nils Hartmann, and Marcus Ammon.