‘American Animals’ Producer Katherine Butler Joins The Ink Factory

The Night Manager producer The Ink Factory has hired UK producer Katherine Butler (American Animals) in the newly-created role of Creative Director.

Butler joins from Raw, where she was Creative Director for scripted. She was previously Deputy Head of Film at UK public funder Film4.

At Raw, this year Butler wrapped feature Dream Horse with Toni Collette and Damian Lewis. The pic will be released in the UK by Warner Bros and in the US by Bleecker St in the spring of 2020.

She will now oversee the film and TV slate for the John le Carré producing outfit and will report to co-founders and co-CEOs Stephen and Simon Cornwell.

Alongside its work on the le Carré estate, which has also included series The Little Drummer Girl and feature A Most Wanted Man, The Ink Factory has produced projects including Fighting With My Family and Message From The King.

Butler was at Film4 for nine years, working on projects including Tyrannosaur, Kill List and Berberian Sound Studio. During that time, she was also an executive producer on BAFTA-winner The Imposter, which was directed by Bart Layton. After leaving Film4, she teamed up with Layton at Raw to oversee its scripted film and TV slate, producing projects including the critically-acclaimed 2018 Sundance pic American Animals.

Katherine Butler said: “I have loved my time at Raw, but when Simon and Stephen asked me to join The Ink Factory, I just couldn’t say no. Their access to extraordinary material combined with their ambition for bold, visionary authorship across their output, making TV and film with something to say about the world we live in now, felt irresistible to me. I can’t wait to join Tom Nash, Michele Wolkoff and the brilliant creative team already in place at Ink, and to get started.”

Simon and Stephen Cornwell, co-CEOs and Founders at The Ink Factory, added: “We are thrilled that Katherine has chosen to join our team to lead our creative endeavours. Katherine brings both insight and experience, combined with great industry relationships. Katherine has an impressive track record of collaborating with strong established talent while at the same time developing emerging voices. It’s incredibly exciting to embark on the next stage of The Ink Factory’s growth with Katherine, and we could not have a better person to lead both the shaping of our slate going forwards and our gifted creative team.”