SPT’s Eleven Film set for job losses

Sex Education and Ten Pound Poms producer Eleven Film is preparing to make a significant level of redundancies off the back of tough trading conditions in the scripted sector.

Broadcast understands that the Sony Pictures Television-owned business, which has 12 full-time employees, has begun a consultation period with staff.

It is not clear how many roles will be cut, although co-founders Jamie Campbell and Joel Wilson are expected to remain at the label, which will remain part of the SPT portfolio.

SPT declined to comment.

Eleven, voted as one of Broadcast’s Best Places to Work last year, was bought by SPT (majority stake investment) in July 2020. At the time, it had produced two of the four series of Sex Education for Netflix, with the final outing debuting in September 2023.

Eleven has since launched a number of new titles. Its drama Ten Pound Poms for the BBC was one of the UK’s biggest new dramas in 2023, drawing 7.7 million viewers after 28 days.

Series two of the Michelle Keegan-led show, which follows a group of Brits escaping post-war Britain for Australia, will air later this year as a co-production with Aussie streamer Stan. Filming wrapped in 2024.

The redundancies also come ahead of Eleven’s keenly anticipated Lord of the Flies adaptation for the BBC and Stan. That series, which is co-produced with One Shoe Films, is currently in post-production.

The cuts reflect the significant challenges facing scripted indies: inflationary pressures on production budgets, reduced domestic commissioning and the retreat of US co-production partners.

Recent BFI figures revealed that £3.4bn of HETV was produced in the UK in 2024, a 20% increase on 2023. However, inward investment productions made up £2.8bn (82%) of that total and UK-led spend fell to £598m, a 22% decrease on 2023.

Last year, Broadcast revealed the closure of Endor Productions, makers of Vienna Blood, State of Play and Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot. Fremantle also laid off all staff at Euston Films, just ahead of train-based thriller Nightsleeper launching on the BBC.

Previous Eleven titles include: Paramount+ drama Stags, which aired in August 2024 and recently secured a US distribution deal via Sony’s PlayStation Plus; 2022 teen horror Red Rose for BBC3 and Netflix; and 2021 feature doc Memories of a Murderer: The Nilsen Tapes for Netflix.

Sex Education launched the careers of stars including Ncuti Gatwa, Emma Mackey and Aimee Lou Wood.