“Matisse’s biggest contribution has been to help us to develop a business strategy and plan. We’re both creatives and while we will always want the ideas that excite us most to be at the heart of the company, it’s incredibly useful to have advisers to focus us on a long-term strategy to ensure that we have a solid foundation upon which we can do the things we really want to do.”

“I have known Nick Curwin over the last decade or so and have been delighted to witness the growth of both his hugely successful production companies, Dragonfly and The Garden.

Nick and I worked alongside each other as part of Shine Group and during that period I saw him and his team create the new genre of fixed rig and go on to many successes worldwide – from The Family to One Born Every Minute to 24 Hours in A&E.

Nick has worked with us at Channel 4 as an advisor to our Growth Fund indies and we have all benefited from his mentorship and the knowledgeable, considered guidance he has given to the creative entrepreneurs in the businesses.”

“Across the years I’ve worked with Nick, Scarlett and Edwina on a number of Channel 5 shows.

They are excellent executives and very talented creatives but in addition have proved to be smart business people who can attract and work with great talent.

As advisers to indies, I can see that they will be able to offer a huge amount of support and encouragement in terms of experience, know-how and creative and commercial acumen and I applaud their decision to actively contribute

to the growth of the production community in the Nations and Regions.”

“Nick Curwin is one of the foremost creative business leaders in UK television.

Together with Magnus Temple, he created not just one major new indie from start-up (Dragonfly), but did it again with The Garden.

Nick is a true entrepreneurial producer, who loves ideas and development but who also understands the business framework that will make them fly.

He’s always been a great identifier and champion of talent, which has been crucial to his businesses growing and thriving. I wish him all success with his new venture sharing his expertise.”

“Nick and Scarlett have an incredibly strong track record not just in running successful indies, but also really understanding how to grow a business and create long term value. I’ve worked with both of them in a variety of capacities for over 15 years and trust their editorial and business judgement completely.”

“Nick worked as a fantastic mentor within our Indie Growth Fund.

He was extremely helpful and added a great deal of creative and commercial value to our portfolio of indies.”

“I couldn’t think of a better combination than Nick Curwin and Scarlett Ewens via Matisse to provide start-ups and growing TV production companies with strategic advice.

Their track record and breadth of knowledge, which are second to none, combined with extensive contacts across the broadcast arena make their involvement a compelling proposition.”

“I was in factual commissioning roles at Channel 4 for over 10 years so I worked with Nick at Mentorn, Dragonfly and at The Garden.

The spark of innovation that Nick brought to factual programmes drove amazing output from all of those suppliers,

from Going Cold Turkey to The Family, One Born Every Minute, Kill it Cook it Eat It, The Audience, 24 Hours In A&E and 24 Hours in Police Custody.

In the latter two programmes Nick and his team demonstrated they could not only innovate but accomplish the difficult job of keeping key long-running titles vital and fresh and manage a key fixture in a channel’s prime time schedule.

The key to Nick’s success has been the combination of a journalist’s eye with a passion for innovation in form.

But beyond that he’s also been first class at identifying and attracting great programme making talent which allowed him to grow his companies while giving his clients the reassurance that they will deliver both quality and innovation.”

“Working with Nick was a cathartic experience.  Open, honest and fun. Rarely do you meet people who are so genuine with the credentials to back it all up.

Every meeting led to a renewed sense of purpose and energy.

I consider myself very lucky to have spent time with Nick, a truly inspirational entrepreneur.”

“Nick acted as a consultant for Eleven on a number of key strategic challenges.  He swiftly and incisively identified the critical factors in each case, proposed creative solutions, and encouraged us to act decisively.

Ultimately Nick had a material impact on our company’s growth.”

“During his time as an advisor to the Channel 4 Growth Fund, Nick gave us some truly insightful advice and support at a moment of transition and growth for Lightbox.

As someone who had been through exactly what we were going through, Nick was able to bring real experience and wisdom to our company at a time when it was much needed.”

Nick has set up and sold two very successful TV production companies – Firefly and The Garden – and was responsible for both pioneering fixed-rig TV and being nominated for 7 BAFTAs and winning 2.

Many of his productions are still supporting TV schedules today, including 24 Hours in A&E. Nick acted as a consultant for Spelthorne Community TV, supporting both our overall creative and commercial strategy and helping get away individual projects.

Nick manages to cut to the chase on both editorial and commercial issues quickly, whilst being calm, erudite, supportive and charming.

He’s a senior industry executive bringing an enormous amount of know-how (both creative and financial), understands how to scale a production business, is extremely highly regarded and well connected.

Given these strengths, we have no doubt that producers in the nations and regions will be very keen to be part of his new project.”

“Nick advised us on a number of strategic and creative issues, most notably in relation to the repositioning and rebranding of the company as we expanded from our initial focus on virtual reality.

He shared clear, insightful and helpful advice – very quickly getting to grips with complex issues. His ability to identify and analyse key challenges, suggest solutions and to do so in a positive, empowering way was extremely helpful.”

“I have worked with Scarlett for a number of years. The best way I can sum her up is just to say that “she gets it”. She understands how to enable the creative side of the business and make sure it can do its best. But she does so whilst making sure that the productions and the company are properly budgeted, managed and controlled. Together this means that the company will prosper and grow.

She  is my template for the role of COO or MD of a production company and I wish we could find a way to clone her. She is also great fun to work with.”

“I worked closely with Scarlett on the sale of The Garden to ITV from a corporate finance perspective.

Scarlett has a keen eye for detail, is very astute financially whilst being commercially savvy.

This rare combination of being strong operationally, financially and legally, makes Scarlett the ideal partner for someone looking to start a new business or grow an existing one.”

“After working with Nick Curwin and Scarlett Ewens over the past year, we are hugely excited to make our partnership with Matisse official.

Nick and Scarlett are the best in the business, with a brilliant track record setting up and running production companies that have revolutionised the face of television.

They are visionaries of business with enormous creative energy, and as Minnow continues to grow and expand its horizons, we are very much looking forward to a collaboration benefitting from their unparalleled acumen and experience.”

“The team at Matisse are world class. They have helped us at 72 Films hugely. Their advice is off-the-charts helpful.  Cannot recommend them enough.”