Profile

“A film producer behind a whole new generation of on-screen hard men” – GQ

“Jonathan Sothcott is carving out a niche as one of the most prolific producers of British action movies” – The Hollywood Reporter

Jonathan is one of the UK’s most prolific and successful independent film producers.

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After leaving school he worked as a film journalist and produced documentaries for the burgeoning DVD industry, working with British film icons including Sir Roger Moore, Ken Russell, Bryan Forbes and Euan Lloyd, about whom he made an acclaimed documentary, The Last of the Gentleman Producers. By the age of 24, Jonathan was the youngest Television Executive in the UK, setting up and launching The Horror Channel in 2004, where he was Head of Programming.

Moving into the film producer he began his long collaboration with Martin Kemp with the short film Karma Magnet starring Gary Kemp. Jonathan and Martin have worked together half a dozen times since on films such as Top Dog for Universal Pictures and Age of Kill for Starz.

Jonathan has worked with a galaxy of stars including Mark Hamill, Jason Statham, Richard E Grant, Sheridan Smith, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Ray Winstone, Steven Berkoff, Rik Mayall, Charlie Cox, Eve Myles, Freema Agyeman, Craig Fairbrass and BAFTA nominees Phil Davis and Kierston Wareing.

Recognised as the “DVD king” (The Raygun) in the UK, Jonathan’s movies have sold over a million units and won a plethora of awards, including sweeping the board at the British Film Awards in 2014 and the prestigious British Lion Award in 2012. In 2018 he won ‘Best Producer’ at the inaugural Britflix Awards and the prestigious ‘Most Innovative Film Production CEO’ at CEO Monthly’s Global CEO Excellence Awards.

His 2013 film Vendetta starring Danny Dyer was the most successful independent British film of the year, and gave Dyer his best role in years. Jonathan subsequently co-wrote a book entitled The Film of Danny Dyer with GQ journalist James Mullinger which was described by The Telegraph as “strangely delightful.”

In 2014 Jonathan negotiated a landmark international co-production deal with American studio Starz to make 4 films per year for them. The films included the cult classics We Still Kill The Old Way and We Still Steal The Old Way. His film The Krays – Dead Man Walking was the biggest non-theatrical UK indie film of 2018, outselling the likes of Black Panther and Ready Player One on its first week of release.

In 2020 Jonathan set up Shogun Films to focus on high concept genre films for the international market. 

Jonathan is recognised as a successful entrepreneur both in the film industry and the wider business community. He was ranked 92 in the 2019 London Power 100 List and 12 in the Britflix Independent Film Power 100 list.