True North Productions
True North Productions is an independent British television production company based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom. The company creates factual programmes and series in a wide variety of genres, including observational documentary, crime, current affairs, history, wildlife, food, property, and children's for broadcast by television networks in the UK, US and China.
Its programmes have been sold via distributors to broadcasters throughout the world and as a result have been screened in numerous countries, including but not limited to the United States, Australia, Russia, and Africa.
The company was established in 2002 by Jess Fowle, Glyn Middleton and Andrew Sheldon, three producers and directors who had previously worked for Yorkshire Television's documentaries department. They chose the company name as a way of highlighting its northern roots.
After several years based at Yorkshire Television's Kirkstall Road studios, in 2009 the company moved its production base to Marshall's Mill, a converted flax spinning mill in Holbeck, close to Leeds city centre. As well as housing its production teams it also created a dedicated post-production operation, with 21 edit suites and a standalone dubbing suite.
In 2012 True North expanded its operation across the Pennines to Greater Manchester - first in Manchester city centre before settling in Media City, Salford.
In 2014 the company was one of the first to receive investment from Channel 4's Indie Growth Fund, a £20 million pot of cash designed to support and nurture independent TV production companies in the UK and help them scale up their business. As part of the deal the broadcaster took a minority share in the company, while Middleton departed the business.
Three years later and Channel 4 sold their stake in True North to Sky Vision, whose investment saw them become the majority shareholder in the business. It represented the Indie Growth Funds' first successful exit and the deal brought the company into a stable that also includes Love Productions, the maker of The Great British Bake Off.
True North was voted one of the Best Places to Work in TV in 2018 and also earned a coveted Top 10 placing in Broadcast Magazine's Peer Poll.
Programming
Current productions
- A1: Britain's Longest Road - in production for BBC One
- A New Life In The Sun - in production for Channel Four
- Building The Dream - in production for More4.
- Say Yes To The Dress North - in production for TLC
- Shop Smart Save Money - in production for Five
- The Pets Factor - in production for CBBC
- Teen Mom UK - in production for MTV UK
- The Yorkshire Dales and The Lakes - in production for More4
Filmography
- Real Life: The Lottery Liar
- Real Life: Fighting For Danny
- Secrets of the Royal Kitchen
- Killer in the Woods
- Steamtown
- Crimefighters
- Who's Taking Your Daughter Home, Tonight?
- MacIntyre's Big Sting
- ONE life: The Woman In Me
- Frock 'n' Roll
- Flying Scotsman Comes Home
- Real Life: Children of the Miners' Strike
- Steaming Back To Scarborough
- Boots And Suits: The Changing Face of the BNP
- ONE life: Asleep At The Wheel
- Animal 24:7
- Headline Crime
- Real Story: Death of a Policeman
- The Sage, Gateshead: A Celebration
- People's War: Bombs And Bread
- People's War: A Woman's Place
- ONE life: The Ripper Murdered My Mum
- Saving Zain
- Xposed
- My Yorkshire
- Real Life: The Boy They Call Chucky
- Trapped Inside My Body
- Henry's Wives, with Terry Deary
- Real Families: My Mums Used To Be Men
- The Way We Were
- Ripper Hoaxer - The Real Story
- Terry Deary's Twisted Tales
- Fiery Fred: A Yorkshire Legend
- Working The Sea: The Lifeboat
- The Way We Worshipped
- ONE life: Getting Away With Murder
- Animal 24:7
- Ghosts of Christmas Past
- ONE life: The Woman Who Can't Stop Lying
- Extraordinary People: The Twins Who Share A Body
- Christa Does Bollywood
- Building Britain
- The Way We Were On Holiday
- Saving Planet Earth
- My Fake Baby
- Animal Rescue Squad
- Sunday Life
- One Man And His Canoe: The John Darwin Story
- Down The Line
- How To Survive The Property Crisis
- Real Crime: Killer on the Run
- Real Crime: Angel of Death
- Shannon: The Mother of All Lies - a Panorama Special
- Anne Diamond's War On Fat
- Killer Couples
- Cutting Edge: Addicted To Surrogacy
- In Search of England's Green And Pleasant Land
- Churchill's German Army
- Calendar Girls - Ten Years On
- Extraordinary People: The Man Who Shared His Liver
- Youth Hostelling - The First 100 Years
- Michaela's Animal Road Trip
- Dispatches: Cops On The Cheap?
- Panorama: Freed To Offend Again?
- Killer in the Family
- To Build Or Not To Build
- Britain's Underworld
- Food Fighters
- Cumbrian Murders - The Untold Story
- Stealing Shakespeare
- Real Crime: PC Sharon Beshenivsky - Death on Duty
- Dick & Dom Go Wild
- Panorama: Forgotten Heroes
- My Dad's Army
- The Big Flutter - Grand National On Film
- Britain's Toughest Cops
- Jon Venables: What Went Wrong?
- What The Neighbours Did
- I'm Pregnant With Their Baby
- Battle of Wills
- Stormchaser: The Butterfly and The Tornado
- Inside The Riots: Panorama
- Murder On The Social Network
- Married, Single, Dead
- When Life Means Life
- Bloody Tales of the Tower
- Dispatches: Undercover Undertaker
- Panorama: Life and Debt – A Greek Tragedy
- The Valleys - Series One
- Panorama: How Safe Is Your Hospital?
- Witness: Beast of Bermondsey
- Compare Your Life
- The Valleys: Series Two
- Animal Frontline
- Bloody Tales - Series Two
- My New Hand
- Junior Vets
- Beauty School Cop-Outs
- Building The Dream -
- When Life Means Life - Series Two
- Hens Behaving Badly
- Churchill's German Army
- Return of the Black Death
- My Derelict Dream Home
- Closing Time
- D-Day's Sunken Secrets
- Junior Vets - Series Two
- What The Neighbours Did
- Animal SOS
- Homes By The Sea
- Bent Coppers
- Dispatches: Trains. Are You Paying Too Much?
- The Man With No Penis
- Homes By The Sea - Series Two
- London's Lost Graveyard
- Junior Vets: On Call
- Tina Malone: My New Body
- Gift Of Life
- The Last Leg Goes Down Under
- A New Life In The Sun
- Coastal Walks With My Dog
- Homes By The Med
- The Mystery Of The Crossrail Skulls
- Junior Vets: On Call - Series Two
- The Battle of Jutland: The Navy's Bloodiest Day
- The Lie Detective
- Teen Mom UK
- Homes By The Sea - Series Three
- First Day at Big School
- China's Forgotten Emperor
- Rambling Shorts
- Too Many Cooks
- Breaking The Silence
- Climbing The Property Ladder
- Walks With My Dog
- Homes By The Med - Series Two
- Brexit: Crisis on the Wards
- The Mystery of the Man on the Moor
- A1: Britain's Longest Road
- The Pets Factor
- The Yorkshire Dales & The Lakes
- Walks With My Dog - Series Two
- Million Dollar Baby
- Smashing Hits! The 80s Pop Road Map
- M1: The Road That Made Britain