Picture Palace Productions


	MALCOLM CRADDOCK Producer and Chief Executive, Picture Palace Productions
	He has just completed SHARPE'S CHALLENGE a 2 part drama for ITV and BBC America, starring Sean Bean. Malcolm Craddock's credits include the previous 14 acclaimed Sharpe films, the award-winning, A Life For A Life, the true story of Stefan Kiszko, starring Olympia Dukakis, and Extremely Dangerous, which gained an audience of 11.1m on its opening night, all independent productions for ITV. He recently made Rebel Heart shot on location in Dublin, the 4 x 1 hour drama for the BBC, which won the Award for Best Director at the Monte Carlo Televison Festival, and more recently Frances Tuesday a 2 part drama for ITV starring Tamzin Outhwaite. Malcolm formed Picture Palace 25 years ago. The company is now one of the longest-running independent production companies in the UK and has built up an enviable track record for producing high quality television drama and tough, original documentaries. The company has received recognition for the quality of its work over the years. In 1998 the company produced A LIFE FOR A LIFE for ITV which won the Royal Television Society's Awards for Best Writer and Best Network Newcomer and was nominated for the top European television award the PRIX ITALIA and received a BAFTA nomination for Best Single Drama. The 14 Sharpe films 1992-7 were produced with Celtic Films for a total budget of £28 million, and have sold extensively around the world. Individual films have received BAFTA nominations for Best Drama Series and an RTS award for Best Photography. Malcolm's early television work includes two series of the Channel 4 sitcom Tandoori Nights, the three English episodes of Channel 4's multi-part European co-production Eurocops and the compelling period drama The Orchid House. In 1986, he won the Gold Award for Drama at the New York International Festival of Film and Television for the Channel 4 shorts series Four Minutes. And that same year, his feature film Ping Pong, the first British film to be shot on location in London's Chinatown, was selected for the Venice Film Festival. Malcolm was an Open Scholar of Queens' College, Cambridge, and graduated with a degree in modern history. He entered the film industry working as Guy Hamilton's assistant on The Party's Over, and subsequently worked as Joseph Losey's assistant on Accident. He spent several years directing commercials before moving into film and television production.

	ALEX USBORNE Producer and Chief Executive, Picture Palace North
	Alex Usborne won his first Oscar at the age of 26 for See You At Wembley, Frankie Walsh. Since then he has specialised in producing rough, tough rock & roll pictures conceived and made in the North of England. His feature film, The Acid House, adapted by Irvine Welsh from his collection of short stories by the same name, was released in 1999 by Film Four International to critical acclaim. Variety was quoted as saying "The Acid House makes Trainspotting look like a mild mannered youth comedy". Alex has recently completed the movie F* Sheffield, and Large, a wickedly funny teen comedy from Birmingham, directed by Justin Edgar for FilmFour and The Film Consortium. Among Alex's early films are the award-winning documentaries Johnny Fantastic and Brendan's Boys, both about boxers in Sheffield. His Tales From A Hard City won the Grand Prix at the 1994 Marseilles Film Festival (Sunny Side of the Doc) and Best regional Programme at the 1995 Indie Awards. The film was screened at the London and Edinburgh Film Festivals in 1994 and ran for two weeks at the ICA. Set in his home town of Sheffield, it is about four dreamers in search of a break in the Old Steel City. It was financed by Channel 4, Yorkshire Television, La Sept/ARTE, Eurimages and the CNC, and co-produced with JBA in France. The Granton Star Cause was awarded the Prix Italia Top TV Fiction Award in September 1998, Best Single Drama RTS 1998, and nominated for Best Single Drama, BAFTA Awards 1998. The film won its director, Paul McGuigan, the RTS's coveted Best Newcomer Award in 1998. A graduate of MEDIA 95’s EAVE programme, Alex has an impressive track record in attracting European finance for his projects - Tales From A Hard City was 60% financed from mainland Europe and was the first UK project to be awarded Eurimages funding. Picture Palace North The Workstation 15 Paternoster Row Sheffield S1 2BX Tel: +44 (0)114 249 3160 Fax:** +44 (0)114 279 6522

Picture Palace, 13 Egbert Street, London, NW1 8LJ
tel: +44 (0)20 7586 8763 fax: +44 (0)20 7586 9048 email: info@picturepalace.com