ScreenDog Productions, the company behind Channel 4’s latest true crime hit The Jury: Murder Trial, today announces it has received a minority stake investment from Edition Capital.
As Channel 4’s most successful unscripted launch in 10 years, ScreenDog will use Edition’s funding to build on the success of The Jury: Murder Trial, help the company grow and make even more compelling shows that ask important societal questions. The funding will also be used for a strategic senior editorial hire to support development activities.
The factual and social experiment format producer has already used part of the funding to appoint Mark Raeburn as Chief Financial Officer as part of its plans to scale up the company.
Former Head of Content Finance at Channel 4, Mark Raeburn joins the senior team at ScreenDog alongside Ed Kellie, MD and Exec Producer, Fiona Fletcher, Head of Production and Welfare, and Harry Smyth, Head of Development. As CFO, Mark will help take the business to the next stage with his extensive knowledge of the financial management of indie production companies. Raeburn oversaw a budget of £700 million during his eight years at Channel 4 and now supports a range of select indies in both a financial and commercial capacity.
Edition Capital sees a mid to long-term opportunity in the non-scripted space, with ScreenDog an emerging force in factual format development. Established in 2015, Edition Capital is one of the UK’s leading early-stage leisure and entertainment investors and advisors. Through their flagship fund, Edition EIS, they have raised and deployed over £50m into a range of leisure sectors including content creation, live entertainment and hospitality.
Ed Kellie, Founder and Executive Producer of ScreenDog, says, “As the viewing market becomes more competitive, being able to deliver hit returning series that stand out on schedules is more important than ever. Screendog have other popular projects with a ‘Screendog twist’ in development and production, and with Edition we see the potential to scale up these productions to continue the winning streak.”
Mark Raeburn, CFO of ScreenDog, adds, “Having already worked with Ed and the Screendog management team in helping secure and get the investment over the line, I’m really excited to join a very talented team in an ongoing capacity with a remit of helping to continue to grow the business and achieve its long term ambitions.”
Adam Spence, Partner at Edition Capital, concludes, “We are incredibly excited to join Screendog at this stage of its journey. The business is a truly unique content creator and we hope our growth capital investment will provide Ed and team with the ammunition to fulfil their immense potential.”
