ITV to set up indie development fund

ITV is to create a multi-million pound development fund for independent production companies.

Speaking today at the Pact's Rights Lab event in London, executive chairman Michael Grade said he has sent proposals to Pact to set up the fund.

He said: "You [the producers] get to reduce your upfront risk and we get to be more closely involved in the development process. You will get the same deal as you get with the BBC or Channel 4 and we will get a greater choice of projects at ITV."

The exact amount available in the fund is not yet known, but Grade indicated it was "several million." Available in the autumn, the money would be distributed among ITV's genre departments headed up by the likes of Paul Jackson, Laura Mackie and Alison Sharman.

Grade also said he wanted to help regain ITV's "supremacy" in drama. He said ITV should stop relying on "tried and tested formulas" and should tackle the 9pm drama slot, and look for more original series'.

He added: “We want the next Life on Mars or Spooks and we are still in the market for the next Morse, but not copies."

Within comedy and entertainment he praised head of entertainment Paul Jackson for re-establishing comedy on the ITV1 schedule, adding: "Under him, ITV and comedy is no longer an oxymoron."