After 23 years producing films in the UK, French mini-major Pathe will close its UK theatrical film distribution business by the end of 2023 to focus on the development and production of scripted TV series under managing director Faith Penhale.
Cameron McCracken is retiring as head of film for Pathe UK but will continue to The rest of the team, now consisting of 12 employees at Pathe UK, will work under Penhale. Penhale, who was previously CEO of UK drama company Lookout Point in November 2022 took over McCracken’
Source: David Hindley Courtesy of LD Entertainment and Roadside Attraction
‘Judy’
“After 23 years at Pathe,16 as managing director, I shall be retiring at the end of the year, splitting my time between the west coast of Scotland and London,” McCracken told
the film we produced with Netflix, which He said this week that the Paris office would always be able decide what investments to make, including English-language movies. Safaee said that it was a sad day for Pathe UK, and for everyone at Pathe’ “Cameron was an exceptional and successful director of Pathe UK for almost 20 years. He consistently brought high- I would like to thank Cameron for the smooth transition he made as he prepared to retire. We leave the keys of the castle to Faith, and her outstanding team, and look forward to Pathe UK’s next achievements.“On a personal note, I want to thank Cameron for all the advice that he gave me over the last few years. He definitely made me, and a lot of other members of the team, better professionals.”
End of an eraCameron joined Pathe UK in 2000 from British Screen where he had served as managing director until it was folded into the nascent UK Film Council that year. He became managing director in 2007. He became managing director in 2007.Source: Phil Mccarten / UPI / Shutterstock
Danny Boyle with his Oscar for ‘Slumdog Millionaire’Pathe UK’s multiple award-winning filmography includes Peter Webber’s Girl With A Pearl Earring, Saul Dibb’s The Duchess,
Phyllida Lloyd’s
The Iron Lady, Sarah Gavron’s Suffragette, Ava DuVernay’s Selma, Rupert Goold’s Judy and Richard Eyre’s Allelujah.
Under McCracken, the company formed creative partnerships with leading UK filmmakers such as Roger Michell, with whom it made
Enduring Love
and
The Duke
and Florence Foster Jenkins with Pathe UK; and Danny Boyle, whose Slumdog Millionaire won the best picture Oscar, and also made Millions, 127 Hours and Trance for Pathe UK. Since 2009, Pathe UK releases its films via a booking partner. First, Warner Bros., then 20th Pathe was responsible for marketing and p&a spending, with a slate of films that focused on its own production One exception was the films of Pedro Almodovar, which under Bye’s team of distributors regularly achieved impressive Source: Ruby Films SuffragettePathe UK’s most recent in-house release is Oliver Parker’s The Great Escaper, starring Michael Caine. The film grossed PS4.9m in six weeks, making it the most successful independent film of the year at the box office Rebecca Leffler contributed additional reporting.
