Cinema Verity was a British independent

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

and

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

production company, founded in 1985 by

Verity Lambert Verity Ann Lambert (27 November 1935 – 22 November 2007) was an English television and film producer. Lambert began working in television in the 1950s. She began her career as a producer at the BBC by becoming the founding producer of ...

, the television producer, who named the company after herself and as a pun on the expression '

cinéma vérité Cinéma vérité (, , ; "truthful cinema") is a style of documentary filmmaking developed by Edgar Morin and Jean Rouch, inspired by Dziga Vertov's theory about Kino-Pravda. It combines improvisation with use of the camera to unveil truth or high ...

'. The company's first major venture was the 1988 feature

A Cry in the Dark ''Evil Angels'' (released as ''A Cry in the Dark'' outside Australia and New Zealand) is a 1988 Australian drama film directed by Fred Schepisi. The screenplay by Schepisi and Robert Caswell is based on John Bryson's 1985 book of the same name. ...

'', which was produced by Lambert herself and based on the infamous Azaria Chamberlain 'dingo baby' case in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the early 1980s. Thereafter, the company was active mainly in television, producing two

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

s for

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

, ''

May to December ''May to December'' is a British sitcom which ran for 39 episodes, from 2 April 1989 to 27 May 1994 on BBC1. The series was created by Paul Mendelson and produced by Cinema Verity. The series was nominated for the BAFTA award for "Best Televi ...

'' (1989–94) and ''

So Haunt Me ''So Haunt Me'' is a British television sitcom about a family that moves into a home occupied by the ghost of its previous resident, a middle-aged Jewish mother. The show was created by Paul Mendelson who was also credited on another British sit ...

'' (1992–94). It also co-produced the short-lived BBC

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Eldorado El Dorado (, ; Spanish for "the golden"), originally ''El Hombre Dorado'' ("The Golden Man") or ''El Rey Dorado'' ("The Golden King"), was the term used by the Spanish in the 16th century to describe a mythical tribal chief (''zipa'') or king o ...

'' (1992–93). Other work included the literary adaptation ''

The Cazalets ''The Cazalets'' is a 2001 television drama series in six episodes (five episodes when broadcast in the US) about the life of a large privileged family in the years 1937 to 1947. Most of the action takes place in London, and at the family's large ...

'' for BBC One in 2001. This programme was co-produced by actress

Joanna Lumley Dame Joanna Lamond Lumley (born 1 May 1946) is an English actress, presenter, former model, author, television producer, and activist. She has won two BAFTA TV Awards for her role as Patsy Stone in the BBC sitcom ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (1992 ...

, whose initial idea the adaptation had been. The company was voluntarily dissolved in 2011.

References

Television production companies of the United Kingdom {{UK-media-company-stub