Skins: The Movie.

London/Isle of Man, Thursday 27 May 2010: Producers Company Pictures and Stormdog Films, feature film financiers and distributors CinemaNX, and Film4 have today announced that they are jointly developing a feature film version of the E4 hit television series, SKINS.

Scripted by SKINS writer Jack Thorne, working closely with SKINS creator Bryan Elsley, the film is scheduled to go into production later this year, and follows four hugely successful seasons on E4. The latest of these has just finished its run, with the highest ratings of any series so far.

Director of Company, Charlie Pattinson, believes that bringing a film version to the big screen is the obvious next step for SKINS – “given the huge amount of support from the ever expanding fan base of the series, we feel that we can go much further and produce yet another unique SKINS experience”, remarked Pattinson.

A number of familiar characters from the four series are expected to feature in the film, which will be directed by long time SKINS director Charles Martin and produced by long time SKINS producer Chris Clough. Shooting in Bristol and the Isle of Man later this year, the film is scheduled for a summer 2011 release.

Company Pictures have a long history of working with both Film4 and CinemaNX individually but this project will be the first collaboration between all three parties.

“The sheer depth in quality that SKINS has delivered over the years makes it perfect for the big screen and we are delighted to be back in business with Company,” said chairman of CinemaNX, Steve Christian.

Tessa Ross, Controller of Film4 and Channel 4 Drama, said: “It is very exciting to be migrating across from E4 to Film4, this extraordinarily talented team from SKINS, who have successfully grown such a wonderfully loyal audience over the course of the last four series.

About CinemaNX: CinemaNX is one of Britain’s leading film finance, production and distribution companies. Formed three years ago with backing from the Isle of Man Government, CinemaNX has an exciting slate of films in production and distribution and continues to expand operations by way of strategic partnerships and investment in media assets. NX released Bafta-nominated Me and Orson Welles at the end of 2009 and currently has the critically acclaimed The Disappearance of Alice Creed in cinemas. The next two releases are Oscar-winner Fernando Trueba’s Chico & Rita and Albatross starring Sebastian Koch, Julia Ormond and Felicity Jones. Previous NX productions Heartless starring Jim Sturgess and Wild Target with Emily Blunt and Bill Nighy are also being released in the UK by Lionsgate and Entertainment respectively.

About Film4: Film4, headed by Tessa Ross, is Channel 4 Television’s feature film division. The company develops and co-finances film productions and is known for working with the most innovative talent in the UK, whether new or established. Film4 is a founding partner of the Warp X digital studio. Film4’s latest releases include Chris Morris’s Four Lions, Sam Taylor-Wood’s Nowhere Boy, Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones, Xiaolu Guo’s She, A Chinese and Tom Harper’s Scouting Book For Boys. Upcoming launches include Mike Leigh’s Another Year, Peter Mullan’s Neds and Hideo Nakata’s Chatroom. Currently completing post-production are Mark Romanek’s Never Let Me Go; Kevin Macdonald’s Eagle Of The Ninth and Richard Ayoade’s Submarine. Currently in production is Joe Cornish’s Attack the Block. For more information visit: www.film4.com/productions.

About Company: Company Pictures is one of the UK’s largest independent television drama and film production companies. Established in 1998 television production highlights include Generation Kill, Skins created by Bryan Elsley and Jamie Brittain, Bafta-winning Shameless, Wild at Heart created by Ashley Pharoah, starring Stephen Tompkinson, Bafta-nominated The Devil’s Whore and The Take starring Brian Cox and Tom Hardy. Company Pictures has made six feature films and is currently producing further series of Wild At Heart, Shameless and Skins. New shows in production include The Silence; a four part serial for BBC1, The Runaway; a second Martina Cole adaptation for SkyOne, a fourth series of Inspector George Gently for BBC1, Women In Love; an adaptation of the D.H.Lawrence novel, The Shadow Line; a six part drama for BBC2 and Skins in America; a co-production with E1 for MTV based on the UK series. Amongst its numerous awards Company Pictures has won Best Independent Production Company at the Broadcast awards in 2004 and 2008, European Producers of the Year Award at the 2004 Monte Carlo Awards, four Golden Globes, twelve Emmy Awards and numerous BAFTA’s for Best Series including Shameless and the Philips audience award for Skins. Since October 2004 Company Pictures has been a part of the All3 Media group.

Taylor Herring PR +44208 206 5151