CORPORATE

Hammer is a legendary British film brand. Not in production since the 1980s, the company is now being aggressively reinvigorated through new investment in the development, production, financing and distribution of film, television and multi-platform content. To support this strategy, Hammer has access to over $50m of initial funds from its main backer Cyrte Investments of the Netherlands. Senior management is made up of Simon Oakes and Marc Schipper, both formerly of Liberty Global Inc., and Andy Mayson formerly of Icon. Hammer has a first-look deal with Spitfire Pictures, Los Angeles, whose founders Guy East and Nigel Sinclair serve as non-executive directors of the company. Next to its new investment strategy, Hammer also exploits a 295-title library that spans the company's near 75-year history.

Launched in 1934 Hammer's first production was The Public Life Of Henry The Ninth and, following a period of inactivity during WW2, the first picture from the newly incorporated Hammer Film Productions Ltd. was 1949's Dr. Morelle: The Case Of The Missing Heiress. The new company's first colour film was The Men Of Sherwood Forest in 1954, and in 1955 the success of The Quatermass Xperiment led to Hammer's move into horror films including The Curse Of Frankenstein in 1957 and Dracula in 1958. A hugely successful run of gothic monster movies cemented Hammer's reputation as the 'Hammer House of Horror', and deals with Universal Studios and Columbia kept the production base at Bray Studios busy with an incredible volume of films produced during this period.

Half-way through the 1960s deals were struck with Seven Arts and Twentieth Century Fox, which led to further horror classics including The Plague Of The Zombies, Quatermass And The Pit, and The Devil Rides Out in addition to successful adventure films including One Million Years BC. The 1960s also saw Hammer's first move into television production with Journey To The Unknown and in 1968 the company received the Queen's Award for Industry. The 1970s saw a clutch of vampire movies and some lucrative movie spin-offs from British sitcoms. To The Devil A Daughter was the last Hammer horror feature in 1976, but production continued into the 1980s with several influential and well-loved TV anthology series.