'Comedy czar' signs with Winchester

FILM rights group Winchester Entertainment has signed laddish wit David Baddiel to write a slate of British comedy movies. The co-writer of soccer anthem Three Lions is to develop scripts for movies with budgets of up to £5m, with Winchester arranging the funding mostly through pre-sales of each film.

The 37-year-old, known for his Baddiel and Skinner Live television show, described himself as a 'comedy czar' for the films firm, digging up movie ideas from the British comedy community. He said he had already met 40 writers and had 20 further meetings scheduled for Winchester-backed ideas. Baddiel already has some big-screen experience, currently developing his first novel, Time For Bed, into a film with Universal.

Winchester, which this year had a box office hit with Sigourney Weaver in Heartbreakers, has been keen to gain more editorial control over the movies it sells, rather than relying solely on the judgment of outside producers.