North Star Media Acquires Picture Shop Manchester

North Star Media has announced the acquisition of Picture Shop's Manchester-based scripted and unscripted operations from Streamland Media.

The new business will operate as Home Post Production, retaining all 40 creative, technical, and production employees, and will continue to deliver a full-service offering to its established client base from its 22,000 sq ft facility in Manchester city centre.

Home Post Production will be headed up by Paul Austin, Managing Director, who has been leading the facility since 2017. North Star Media's Chief Executive, David Jackson, led the acquisition and will oversee the business. An industry veteran with vast experience of leading post production facilities in the North West, David previously owned and managed Manchester’s 422 for more than a decade.

Since its launch eight years ago as The Farm's Manchester outpost, the facility has grown into the UK’s largest post production house outside London. It offers a comprehensive suite of post production services, including capture on location, offline and online edit, colour grading and finishing, visual effects and a full range of audio services including tracklay, sound design, mixing, VO, and ADR.

The team has built a reputation for excellence across a wide range of genres including studio shows, documentaries, factual entertainment, scripted reality, animation, commercials, with an outstanding record in high-end scripted drama. Recent flagship projects include This City is Ours (Left Bank Pictures), Sherwood (House Productions), Ambulance (Dragonfly TV) and 24 Hours in A&E (The Garden).

"Home Post Production is an incredibly strong asset for Manchester's creative industry; a regional flagship facility with a reputation for delivering some of the very best content in the UK," said David Jackson, Chief Executive, North Star Media. "We're proud to invest in this talented team and look forward to building on its successes over the years to come."

"We've established an amazing facility with cutting-edge technology, but it’s our incredible team of creative and technical specialists that ensures our clients come back again and again," explained Paul Austin. "We're trusted because we care just as deeply as they do about getting the very best results from suite to screen. As Home Post Production, this ethos will continue to underpin our daily business, and our clients can expect the same level of excellence across every project."