BBC Studios Takes Full Control Of 'Wilderness' Producer Firebird

Elizabeth Kilgarriff and Craig Holleworth - Firebird Pictures — Craig Holleworth and Elizabeth Kilgarriff - Firebird Pictures Firebird Pictures

BBC Studios has taken full control of Firebird Pictures, the British drama indie behind Prime Video’s Wilderness and BBC One’s Wahala.

The BBC’s commercial arm already had a stake in the company, which former BBC execs Elizabeth Kilgarriff and Craig Holleworth run together.

Firebird now sits in a stable of BBC Studios indies that include Gentleman Jack firm Lookout Point, Steve Coogan’s Baby Cow Productions, Sherwood maker House Productions, The End of the F*cking World indie Clerkenwell Films and Killing Eve‘s Sid Gentle Films. The BBC also has minority stakes in the likes of Various Artists Limited, Expectation, Curve and Mothership Productions and is backing YouTuber Joe Suggs’ new venture Final Straw Productions.

Firebird launched in 2019 with minority support from the BBC after Kilgarriff and Holleworth left their respective roles as BBC Senior Commissioning Editor and BBC Drama/BBC Films Head of Business. Recent greenlit are Wilderness, a six-part drama from Marnie Dickens for Amazon based on BE Jones’ novel, and Wahala, which is for BBC One and written by Theresa Ikoko and based on Nikki May’s novel.

Filming on Wilderness began in July with Jenna Coleman and Oliver Jackson-Cohen starring, as Deadline reported over the summer, while Wahala is set to shoot in 2023.

Firebird say it has multiple projects in development with UK and U.S. platforms, and expects further greenlights to be announced later this year.

Kilgarriff and Holleworth said in a statement: “From the very beginning of Firebird’s journey with just a blank piece of paper and an empty office with one chair, BBC Studios have supported and backed us every step of the way, fully trusting in our vision and ambition and helping build the company to where we are today. We are delighted to now be cementing our relationship and are excited for Firebird’s future as we grow the company together.

BBC Studios returned more than £180M ($203M) to the UK independent production sector in 2021/2022 in development funding, rights investment and royalties.