River Monsters indie Icon Films and Moneybags producer Youngest Media have each closed within the space of the past month.
Founded by husband-and-wife team Laura and Harry Marshall, Icon has been a staple of the Bristol specialist factual scene for 33 years.
Over that time, it has made more than 500 hours of domestic and international programming, including 10 series of River Monsters for ITV and Animal Planet, as well as National Geographic’s Savage Kingdom and Nat Geo/Disney+ series Primal Survivor.
The closure impacts 26 full-time and fixed-term roles and all staff will receive redundancy payments. Among them are long-serving staff Andie Clare, who joined as director of production in 1997, and commercial director Lucy Middelboe, who has been with Icon since 2007.
“The industry is changing and knowing when to leave your own party is important,” said Harry Marshall. “Our legacy is something we can be proud of.
“We wanted to do the exit well and manage the wind-down on our own terms so our team feels valued and respected and are properly compensated and we can step away knowing we have done our best by everyone. We will now plan our next adventures and like Icon Films, see where it takes us.”
Youngest Media
Icon’s closure comes just weeks after former Endemol execs David Flynn and Lucas Church called time on their entertainment indie Youngest Media after seven years.
The duo cited tough market conditions for their decision, saying that the company had not recovered from the impact of pandemic on its cashflow. It was employing fewer than 10 staff when it was wound down.
As well as two series of Channel 4 daytime quiz Moneybags, Youngest also made E4’s Game of Clones and ITV’s Small Fortune, which was adapted for US network NBC.
