Sky Studios Signs First-Look Deal with Romesh Ranganathan’s Ranga Bee

By Christopher Vourlias

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Sky Studios has signed a first-look script deal with comedy and entertainment indie Ranga Bee, the production company founded by BAFTA-nominated comedian Romesh Ranganathan and Emmy-winning executive producer and director Benjamin Green.

Ranga Bee will work directly with to develop projects for Sky, with co-developed projects to be executive produced by Jon Mountague, director of comedy at Sky Studios. The development funding will also allow Ranga Bee to draw top talent to work on projects for Sky Studios, which will be distributed by NBCUniversal Global Distribution.

Ranga Bee has an established relationship with Sky following two successful seasons of “The Reluctant Landlord,” a semi-autobiographical sitcom in which Ranganathan inherits a pub he doesn’t really want. The comedian has also worked on “Romesh Presents,” a series of 10 shorts for new and emerging comedy talent on Sky One, while appearing as a regular panelist on Sky One’s “A League of Their Own,” winner of the 2019 BAFTA for Comedy Entertainment Program. Ranganathan was BAFTA nominated in the Entertainment Performance category in 2016 for his Sri Lankan odyssey “Asian Provocateur” for the BBC.

Green shared a Primetime Emmy in 2017 as a producer on “Carpool Karaoke.” His other credits include “An Idiot Abroad,” “An Immigrant’s Guide to Britain” and “Asian Provocateur.”

“Romesh has been entertaining Sky customers for years with his unique style of humor, and I couldn’t be more excited about this new deal with Romesh, Ben and the whole Ranga Bee team,” said Gary Davey, CEO of Sky Studios. “‘The Reluctant Landlord’ is a brilliant show and I look forward to seeing what new scripted comedies we can produce together.”

“We set up Ranga Bee to make great comedy shows with both new and established talent and we’re thrilled to be partnering with Sky Studios to help further that ambition,” said co-founders Ranganathan and Green. “We look forward to making innovative and genuinely funny comedy and comedy dramas together. This is also a great opportunity for Romesh to pretend to support other talent.”

Sky Studios was established last June and has 52 scripted shows currently in production across Europe. Sky has also announced plans for Sky Studios Elstree, a new film and TV studio with 14 sound stages that’s set to open in 2022.