Channel 4 has signed an exclusive first-look deal with 24 Hour Party People and Cock and Bull director Michael Winterbottom's production company Revolution Films. ![Michael Winterbottom Michael Winterbottom](http://www.netribution.co.uk/cc/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=595&g2_serialNumber=1)
Under the deal, Channel 4 gets first look at all Winterbottom's TV dramas made with his long-term producer partner Andrew Eaton, through the TV arm of Eaton's independent production company Revolution Films.
BERLINALE
Winterbottom and Eaton were behind hit films 'Welcome to Sarajevo' and '9 Songs' as well as the 2006 Bafta nominated 'A Cock and Bull Story'. They received funding from Film Four, Channel 4's soon-to-be free-to-air film channel, to make the feature-length film 'The Road to Guantanamo', which premiered this week at The 56th Berlin International Film Festival.
Tessa Ross, Channel 4 head of drama and film, said: "This project is another example of the artistic and financial commitment Channel 4 has made to bring the most ambitious and challenging drama to television and a perfect example of how Channel 4 drama and FilmFour can work together to great mutual benefit."
INNOVATIVE PROJECTS
Eaton said that he and Winterbottom began their careers in television drama and saw this as an opportunity to bring television and film worlds together to make innovative projects.
Revolution Films' TV division will be headed up by Kate Ogborn, a former executive producer for film at regional screen agency EM Media. She also has experience as an independent producer at The Bureau Film Company and helped set-up Warp-X, the low-budget film scheme set up by Film Four.
'The Road to Guantanamo' is based on the stories of three British men arrested on their way to a wedding and imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay for more than two years. The drama will be broadcast on Channel 4 on March 9.