Former Pioneer exec sets up production consultancy

Former Pioneer Productions MD Kirstie McLure has set up a new consultancy business connecting productions with internationally skilled production staff. 

Co-founded by McLure and Nikki Tilley, the business is a collective of chief operating officers and heads of production who are available on a consultancy basis.

It comes as a response to a “service gap” experienced by producers who need to skill up temporarily at a senior planning and budgeting level for certain projects, but require consultancy rather than costly long-term commitments.

Overall, the business provides interim support, budget management, operational staff recruitment and financial and business-affairs services to a range of clients, from individual creatives to mid-size indies, helping them to manage budgets, staffing, production planning and demanding broadcast clients.

One of the business’s first clients is TCB Media Rights, which has linked with Televators for operating and budgeting support for the distributor’s in-house commissions.

Televators is working with TCB commissioner Hannah Demidowicz to support the business’s slate of fully-funded commissions.

Demidowicz – one of the first commissioning editors at a factual distributor – has helped the business greenlight around 200 hours of self-funded and co-developed projects, including Hunch Media’s Shocking Emergency Calls (10 x 60 minutes) and Phoenix Television’s Underground Worlds (10 x 60 minutes).

Under the deal, Televators provides TCB with a flexible operational infrastructure, allowing it to manage its slate of commissions efficiently and cost effectively.

Demidowicz said: “The Televators provide us with the last piece of the commissioning jigsaw. Just as any broadcaster has an in-house production management team we must also have this function to ensure we provide a duty of care to our clients and our production partners. With the help of Kirstie, Nikki and their team, TCB now has the talent and resources to take its commissioning activities to the next level.”

McLure added: “TCB is an agile and progressive company, it already distributes great content with proven commercial success. It makes perfect sense that TCB has taken the  step to fully commission great content from its network of dynamic producers who understand the international market and can created and deliver great content on a modest budget. Our extensive experience and global network of ‘Televators’ means we can flexibly support TCB and provide full production administration throughout the process. Together we’re looking forward to delivering strong creative programming that’s entertaining, on-time and in-budget.”