Film studio boss’s £7.6m pay revolt

THE boss of the firm behind peppa pig suffered an embarrassing blow last night as investors revolted against plans to hand him a no-strings £7.6m bonus.

In a vote at Entertainment one’s annual general meeting, its proposal to award Darren Throop 3m shares as an incentive to stay on was opposed by almost half of shareholders.

Almost 40pc of them also voted against Throop’s annual pay of £1.7m for this year, with 47pc opposing a proposal to hand him up to £4m next year.

It came as Entertainment one said a mixed bag of box office releases had hit takings in its film division, with revenues so far this year nearly halved across the Atlantic, falling to £61m from £113m last year. It blamed fewer cinematic releases but believes a strong line-up for the rest of the financial year will improve the situation.

Its troubled film division is in the process of being merged with its television arm, which is behind a number of popular American shows such as Grey’s Anatomy and Designated Survivor. However, it has struggled at the box office.

The critically well-received Detroit took £10.3m less than it cost to make, while Valerian And The City of A Thousand planets, starring the model Cara Delevingne, was made for £132m but brought in only £166.6m. The firm said it expected its fortunes in the second half to improve, with planned releases including Steven Spielberg’s The post and a sequel to 2014’s hit paddington (pictured). The performance in film was in contrast with the continued success of peppa pig, which the firm said was taking China by storm thanks to airings on the China Central Television network. Shares were yesterday down 1.2pc, or 3p, at 255p.