Matthew Stillman

After unsuccessfully trying to break into the film industry in London, Stillman visited Prague in 1992[11][12] with a friend, Nick Spikings,[9] to explore the possibility of setting up a production company in the city. Beginning with "$500 and a typewriter" and renting an office at Barrandov Studios for $150 a month,[13] the two friends set up a company called Stillking. They then started a nightclub, Ubiquity, to provide cash-flow over the company's first summer.[12]

Stillman won Stillking's first business working on a music video for k.d. lang,[12] then produced a TV commercial for Dentsu.[13] More work on TV commercials followed. In 1994, Stillman chose an unknown Czech film student, Ivan Zachariáš, to make a film about UN peace-keepers for a 50th anniversary commercial for the UN. The project marked a breakthrough for both Stillking and Zachariáš.[13]

By 1995, Stillking was working on around ninety commercials a year.[14] Film-makers were coming to Prague in large numbers, attracted by the combination of low costs, attractive locations and high production standards,[15][16] and over the next decade the company thrived[17] and expanded.[18] Offices were in due course opened in Warsaw, London, Budapest (Pioneer Stillking),[14] Bucharest (Icon Stillking),[19] Milan,[20] Barcelona, Cape Town and Santiago de Chile.[21][22] By 1999 the company was turning over around $20m a year[8] and by 2002 about $168m.[23]

In 1995, Stillking made its first network mini-series: The Ring, for NBC, starring Nastassja Kinski, was released in 1996.[24] The same year Stillking worked on its first feature film, Plunkett & Macleane (released 1999) with Working Title Films.[4] Stillking subsequently set up its own development arm for producing its own English-language films.[25]

The company has become one of Europe's most significant production entities, participating in over 150 film and TV projects, including Casino Royale, The Bourne Identity, Van Helsing, Red Sparrow, Wanted, Carnival Row and The Witcher.[26]

It has also continued to produce music videos, including work for Beyonce, Kanye West and Madonna;[5] and commercials for clients such as Guinness, Audi, Coca-Cola, Mercedes and Stella Artois.[4]

In 1997, the American heiress Elisabeth Goth purchased a minority stake in the company (reportedly 20 per cent) for an undisclosed sum.[8]

In 1997, Stillking combined with the production company Blink Ltd to create Stink, a London-based venture that produces TV commercials.[27][28] Stink went on to receive numerous awards for its work, including more than 100 Cannes Lions, more than 50 D&AD pencils and the first ever Film Grand Prix for an interactive piece of work.[29] Its clients have included Honda,[30] Gucci,[31] Apple,[32] Nike[33] and Facebook.[7]

In 2014 the Stillking Films holding company was renamed 2020 Group.[34] The group, which is sometimes referred to as 2020 Content,[1] now has 20 daughter companies, in 16 countries,[3] and is one of the largest private companies involved in the production of content in advertising, film and television. Stillman is founder and CEO.[3][2]

In 2017 Stillman became a director of On The Corner Films,[35] a company specialising in documentaries and factual entertainment,[36] with Asif Karpadia and James Gay Rees.[35] Its productions include Diego Maradona (2019).[37]

In 2018, in collaboration with Liev Schreiber, Stillman launched Illuminated Content, a Gotham-based venture to develop, produce and finance TV and movie projects.[3] In 2019 the company produced Human Capital,[38][39] and announced a collaboration with David Carver to produce The Place I Belong, a biopic of the golfer Moe Norman.[40]