The latest accounts for Fulwell 73, the U.K.-based production company behind “The Late Late Show With James Corden,” reveal a company turnover of £32.4 million ($42.9 million).
Fulwell 73 was founded in London in 2005 by childhood friends Ben Winston (who co-executive produces “The Late Late Show”), Leo Pearlman and Benjamin and Gabriel Turner. Corden was appointed a director in 2017.
The report and financial statements for Fulwell 73 Productions, the parent company for Fulwell’s many subsidiaries, were filed at Companies House in London on Tuesday.
The accounts cover the 12-month period ending July 31, 2020, with the first pandemic lockdown arriving almost exactly in the middle of that period, in March 2020, stalling production across the U.S. and U.K.
The accounts, which consolidate the financial statements of both Fulwell 73 LLP and its subsidiaries (together referred to as “the Group”), show that the company saw a healthy turnover, increasing 27% on the previous year, no doubt thanks to the variety of scripted and unscripted projects it produced, which include “The Late Late Show.”
In real terms, however, increasing costs and production delays — most significantly including the long-awaited “Friends” reunion, which Winston directed and Fulwell 73 produced — due to the initial impact of the pandemic, meant that turnover translated into only a 5% increase in gross profit, which totalled £12.1 million ($16.2 million).
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on productions in the second half of the 2020 financial year, which has disrupted both existing productions and new commissions,” states the members’ report, which was approved by all five directors and signed by Pearlman. “However, the resilience and diversification of content produced by the business has enabled the Company to perform better than many in the industry.”
The company has also put the relatively small increase in gross profit down to a surge in administrative expenses, which, they write in the members’ report, “is primarily due to a rise in staff costs of £2.9 million as the group continues to invest in people in order to facilitate future growth” as well as expenses related to COVID-19 and remote working.
In 2019, the company posted profits of £11.5 million ($15.4 million).
The outlook for the company’s trajectory remains sunny, with the report stating: “The production slate and pipeline at the start of financial year 2022 remains strong with a number of significant projects either already in production or in advanced stages of negotiation.”
In Sept. 2021, the company expanded its offices, launching an outpost in the north east of England. It also launched its first Spanish-language project, “Boundless.”
The report also breaks down Fulwell’s turnover by country, showing that £22.6 million — which amounts to almost 70% — comes from the U.S., where alongside “The Late Late Show,” co-director Winston also produced the Grammy Awards among other fare (the 2020 awards were held in January, just before COVID hit the U.S.)
£6.5 million turnover came from the U.K. and £3.6 million from the rest of the world.
The financial statements also show that “works in progress,” meaning development and productions costs for “projects under construction,” amounted to £3.1 million in the year ending July 31, 2020, versus £816,911 in 2019.
“This year just passed has overall been a successful one for Fulwell 73 Productions LLP,” reads the members’ report. “While the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has had a large impact on the performance of the Group, the Group has still been able to sustain the growth seen in recent years. The prior year acquisition of Creativity Media Limited continued to bed in, with increased volumes of Fulwell productions flowing through the Creativity Post.”
The accounts also show a £49.7 million liability in respect of share capital by the minority owner of another Fulwell company, Fulwell 73 Holdco. It is, for the purposes of the accounts, being treated as a debt that will be due in June 2024.
The most recent confirmation statement for Fulwell 73 Holdco shows the minority shareholder is a Delware-registered company with offices in Beverly Hills called Valence Media Partners LLC. It is represented by the United Agent Group.
