Jonathan Church announces independent production company

Jonathan Church will set up his own independent production company after his departure as artistic director of Chichester Festival Theatre in 2016.

Jonathan Church Productions Limited (JCPL) is being supported by Delfont Mackintosh Theatres who will provide the company with a development fund to create new work, as well as being a minority shareholder.

Church will work as a director and producer for the company, aiming to "develop further creative relationships in the commercial sector".

Jonathan Church said of his new venture: "I have spent the last 20 years producing work for the subsidised theatre, and I am extremely excited by this opportunity to continue to develop my producing and directing in the commercial arena.

"I have always believed that the commercial sector is equally capable of producing work of the highest artistic standard – often in collaboration with subsidised venues, and I very much hope to maintain an artistically driven agenda in this new forum."

Church joined Chichester Festival Theatre in 2005, and has overseen the organisation's 50th anniversary in 2012 and the recent £22 million redevelopment of the Festival Theatre.