We have secured the options on the first two books in the DI Wilkin's Mysteries - written by Simon Mason, with a view to developing them into a returning TV series with international appeal.
Ryan Wilkins grew up on a trailer park in Oxford, a member of what many people would call the criminal classes. As a young Detective Inspector, he’s lost none of his disgust with privileged elites – or his objectionable manners. But he notices things; they stick to his eyes. His professional partner, DI Ray Wilkins, of affluent Nigerian-London heritage, is an impeccably groomed, smooth-talking graduate of Balliol College, Oxford. You wouldn’t think they would get on. They don’t. But when a young woman is found strangled at Barnabas Hall, they’re forced to.
‘As great a contribution to the noble British genre of detective fiction as any writer for decades’ Stephen Fry
Corestar Media has acquired the dramatic rights to the story of Mavis Eccleston who was accused of murder after entering into a suicide pact with her terminally ill husband. ‘Goodnight Darling’ tells the story of the couple’s 60-year-old love affair and the agonising decision they both took to end their lives together when Dennis was in terrible pain from cancer. It follows 79-year-old Mavis’s murder charge and trial, at which she was unanimously found not guilty, and her family’s campaign for a change in the law.
The project was brought to Corestar by Grantchester actor, Tom Brittney. He will be an Executive Producer on the project. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel author, Deborah Moggach, has written the script. Tom said: “When I first met Mavis and her family, I was heartbroken at their horrific ordeal. I’m honoured that the Eccleston’s have allowed us to tell their story, and to share with a wider audience, in the hope that reform is brought about so that no one ever has to endure the pain that Mavis and their family faced”.
We are working with Andrea Gibb (Miss Austen & Mayflies) on the adaptation of Julie Myerson's The Stopped Heart. A thrilling psychological ghost story, aimed to deliver horror and heart in equal measure. When we first meet our central character Mary, she is full of hope that her new life in the picture-perfect cottage in rural England will heal the recent traumatic events experienced in London. Events which we slowly begin to realise are every parent’s worst nightmare – their daughters have been brutally murdered.
However, their new house has secrets of its own, and the viewer travels through multiple timelines to unearth the story of how a predator infiltrates a house in the 1800s to devastating effect and how that incident now in turn helps to heal Mary.
Corestar has partnered with the team behind the Sky Cinema hit; Book of Love, to develop an original idea from award-winning writer, David Quantick. Grumpy Old Dad, a semi-autobiographical warm-hearted comedy drama, full of emotion and humour, tracks the realities of being an Older Parent. We have developed this to be a returning series and recently shot a proof of concept for the show, with David O'Hara in the lead. David brings a wealth of talent to the role, having starred in blockbuster films such as Braveheart, Harry Potter and The Departed.
Paul is an acclaimed writer and Bafta-winning director. His body of work to date includes the theatrical release of four feature films and prime-time television programming for the BBC and ITV. Paul’s films include the critically acclaimed London to Brighton, horror-comedy The Cottage, home invasion thriller Cherry Tree Lane and Song for Marion. In 2014 Paul directed Murdered by My Boyfriend for the BBC, which won the RTS Award for Single Drama and was the highest-watched programme on BBC iPlayer behind Sherlock and Top Gear.
Following this he directed the critically acclaimed The Eichmann Show and in 2016/7 he was the lead director of BAFTA-winning drama series Broadchurch as well as directing the Bafta-winning Murdered For Being Different for BBC Studios. In 2018 he directed Strangers, starring John Simm and Emilia Fox, co-produced by ITV and Amazon Studios. Followed A Confession for ITV, written by Bafta winner Jeff Pope, starring Martin Freeman and Imelda Staunton. During the Covid lockdown, Paul directed one of 4 Isolation Stories for ITV starring Angela Griffin and Darren Boyd.
More recently, Paul delivered The Walk In for ITV Studios, starring Stephen Graham and penned by Jeff Pope, as well as Archie, the Cary Grant biopic, starring Jason Isaacs for ITV X.
Richard hails from a post-production background and has worked in all areas of the sector, from advertising to award-winning TV drama and feature film. In 2004 Richard joined the management team at Molinare and in 2009 moved into the role of Chief Operating Officer, assuming overall responsibility for Molinare’s UK operations. During this time the company completed post-production on a vast number of television and film projects, including many of Britain’s most popular TV drama series, such as Silent Witness, New Tricks and Foyle’s War.
In 2011 Richard left Molinare to develop and produce Passengers, starring Anna Popplewell. The Messenger starring Robert Sheehan and Lily Cole, followed in 2014, which premiered in competition at the Edinburgh International Film Festival the following year. He has been involved in the development of a number of projects and has his own Christmas animation feature script in pre-production. In 2018 Richard executive produced The More You Ignore Me for Genesius Pictures.
In 2021, Richard was the recipient of the Writer’s Guild of Great Britain Olwen Wymark Theatre Encouragement Award, for his work in encouraging and supporting writing talent.
Ken set up Steel Mill Pictures with Paul in 2005 and has produced all of the company’s films as well as the dark-comedy Filth, based on the Irvine Welsh novel. Ken also executive produced the award-winning documentary All This Mayhem. In 2015 he produced the critically-acclaimed The Eichmann Show, which premiered on BBC Two. More recently he was lead executive producer for the coming-of-age comedy Adult Life Skills, starring Jodie Whittaker.
Ken has also been a consultant and mentor for several low budget film programmes, including: iFeatures and Creative England, MicroSchool / Microwave, Film London and the National Film & Television School. In 2014, Ken was part of the first BFI-led UK film industry delegation on a trade mission to Beijing, to explore opportunities for building creative and business partnerships between the UK and China.
Ken is an alumni of the prestigious Inside Pictures programme; an intensive film business training and leadership skills development programme, presented by the National Film & Television School.
Ross has been working in Television Drama since 2001 and has extensive experience in both production and development – producing, story-lining and script editing major primetime drama series for the BBC, ITV and C4. His TV credits include, script editing Paul Abbott’s No Offence, producing EastEnders, Waterloo Road, Coronation Street and Holby City. Most recent projects include the upcoming reboot of All Creatures Great And Small for Playground Entertainment and LAGOS, an international thriller set in the world of Afro Beats, for UMG/Archery Pictures.
In 2012, Ross received a scholarship from Fremantle to undertake the Warner Bros MA TV Fiction Writing at Glasgow University and graduated with distinction. He continues to act as a mentor on this world-renowned course and prides himself on fostering and nurturing new talent alongside building on his extensive network of established TV writers.
Kirsti has worked for Corestar Media since its inception, she is the executive assistant to the Founding Directors and is a key element in both the running of the office and the Company in general.
Prior to this, she worked for Verizon as a project manager and then PA to the Vice President of International IT & Security EMEA & Asia Pacific.
Kirsti took a career break on the birth of her 2nd child, she returned to work in 2014 working for Mark Foligno, and was credited as Assistant to the Producer on the feature film Golden Years. In her spare time, she has been Chair of Governors at a local school for 10 years.
