Natural Nylon was a British film and theatre production company, in operation from 1997 to 2003.
It was officially formed in 1997 by
Jude Law,
Sadie Frost
Sadie Liza Frost (née Vaughan; born 19 June 1965) is an English actress, producer and fashion designer, who ran fashion label Frost French (until its closure in 2011) and a film production company (Blonde to Black Pictures).
Early life
Frost ...
,
Jonny Lee Miller
Jonathan Lee Miller (born 15 November 1972) is a British film, television and theatre actor. He achieved early success for his portrayal of Simon "Sick Boy" Williamson in the dark comedy-drama film '' Trainspotting'' (1996) and as Dade Murphy i ...
,
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British ...
,
Sean Pertwee
Sean Carl Roland Pertwee''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' (born 4 June 1964) is an English actor, narrator and producer with an extensive career since the 1980s in television and cinema productions.
He is known ...
,
Damon Bryant,
Bradley Adams, and
Geoff Deehan
Geoff Deehan is a film and television producer who has worked on projects such as '' The Heist'' and ''Equinox''. He is also the creator and producer of the ''Plane Crash'' Documentary on Channel Four.
Early life
Geoff Deehan was born on 14 Jun ...
, although the history of the group goes back a few years earlier. Natural Nylon was formed with the aim of giving those involved more control over their careers, 'supporting British acting talent, and keeping it in the UK'.
Bryant had quit his job as cameraman in 1991 and, together with his wife, opened a club on Beak Street in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
's
Soho
Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century.
The area was develo ...
. He struck up a friendship with TV producer Bradley Adams, whose wife introduced them to Frost, who was going out with Law after meeting him on the set of ''
Shopping
Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A typology of shopper types has been developed by scho ...
''. McGregor and Pertwee had also met Law through this film - Pertwee also appeared in it and McGregor read for the part that went to Law. Completing the line-up was Miller, a friend of Law since they met at the
National Youth Music Theatre
The National Youth Music Theatre (NYMT) is an arts organisation in the United Kingdom providing pre-professional education and musical theatre stage experience for young people. Based in London, it is constituted as a private limited company (orig ...
in their late teens. The majority of the group lived in the
Primrose Hill
Primrose Hill is a Grade II listed public park located north of Regent's Park in London, England, first opened to the public in 1842.Mills, A., ''Dictionary of London Place Names'', (2001) It was named after the natural hill in the centre of ...
area, and were part of the
Primrose Hill set
The Primrose Hill set is a name applied to a group of celebrities in the 1990s, who were based in Primrose Hill, near Camden Town in North London, and had, in the words of Andrew Johnson writing in ''The Independent'' in 2010, a reputation for " ...
.
Natural Nylon was formed in the late 90s, and the first film to be produced by Natural Nylon was
David Cronenberg's ''
eXistenZ'' (1999) which was followed by ''
Nora
Nora, NORA, or Norah may refer to:
* Nora (name), a feminine given name
People with the surname
* Arlind Nora (born 1980), Albanian footballer
* Pierre Nora (born 1931), French historian
Places Australia
* Norah Head, New South Wales, headlan ...
'' (2000), ''
XX/XY'' (2002), ''
Owning Mahowny
''Owning Mahowny'' is a 2003 Canadian film about gambling addiction with a cast that includes Philip Seymour Hoffman, Minnie Driver, Maury Chaykin and John Hurt. Based on the true story of a Toronto bank employee who embezzled more than $10 mil ...
'' (2003), ''
To Kill a King
''To Kill a King'' is a 2003 English Civil War film directed by Mike Barker, and starring Tim Roth, Rupert Everett and Dougray Scott. It centres on the relationship between Oliver Cromwell and Thomas Fairfax in the post-war period from 1648 unt ...
'' (2003), and ''
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow
''Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow'', often shortened to ''Sky Captain'', is a 2004 science fiction action- adventure film written and directed by Kerry Conran in his directorial debut, and produced by Jon Avnet, Sadie Frost, Jude Law an ...
'' (2004). They co-produced an acclaimed adaptation of ''Dr Faustus'' at the
Young Vic in 2002.
Bryant and McGregor left the company in 2002, and Law resigned as director in January 2003, with the reason given as the taking off of the Hollywood careers of McGregor and Law.
As the company was effectively wound down in early 2003,
Variety wrote ''Natural Nylon never lived up to its Britpack hype. Founded seven years ago amid claims by the actor partners that it would enable them to take greater control over their careers, it only managed to get its name on four films — “eXistenZ,” “Nora” and the upcoming “To Kill a King” and “Owning Mahowny.”''
[}]
See Also
Primrose Hill set
The Primrose Hill set is a name applied to a group of celebrities in the 1990s, who were based in Primrose Hill, near Camden Town in North London, and had, in the words of Andrew Johnson writing in ''The Independent'' in 2010, a reputation for " ...
References
Film production companies of the United Kingdom
Mass media companies established in 1997
Mass media companies disestablished in 2003
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