UPDATE (9.30AM): Following the publication of this interview, HBO Max distanced itself from Fulwell 73 quotes about the Friends reunion being imminent.

EXCLUSIVE (6.30AM): Fulwell 73, the production company that counts James Corden among its partners, is planning to get back into production on HBO Max’s Friends reunion and the Camila Cabello feature Cinderella this month after producing around 50 hours of primetime television at the height of the pandemic.

In an interview with Deadline, Fulwell 73 partner Leo Pearlman and senior executive Carly Shackleton reflected on a memorable four months for the company, during which it made The Late Late Show in Corden’s garage and produced the first pandemic-era studio show in the UK: BBC One’s Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer.

The latter will help inform production on the highly-anticipated Friends reunion, which Pearlman said is poised to shoot in the next two weeks, with Fulwell 73 partner Ben Winston directing.

“We’re very excited for that,” said London-based Pearlman, who would not be drawn on specifics about the reunion, but said the UK team is contributing to the show.

Pearlman said Fulwell 73 is working on the basis that it will be next year before it can start welcoming back audiences to its entertainment brands.

Shackleton oversaw production on Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer, which had to be completely rethought after COVID-19 wiped out Euro 2020, the football competition around which the show was originally conceived.

“There was no hanging around in the green room, no bringing agents,” Shackleton said, detailing a formula that is likely to be replicated on other Fulwell brands after not a single case of coronavirus was traced back to Save Our Summer.

Sony’s musical reimagining of the iconic fairytale stars Cabello, Pierce Brosnan, Minnie Driver and Corden himself.  It was little more than four weeks into filming at Pinewood Studios when it was forced to shut down in March, as the pandemic derailed virtually all scripted production in the UK.

There remains up to seven weeks worth of production left to complete and Pearlman said Fulwell 73 has had few issues reassembling its all-star cast.

It’s also close to completing a self-financed series on the Chelsea Women’s soccer team, which the company is yet to take to market.

Reflecting on a testing few months for the company, Pearlman said: “We were incredibly proud of the team and how they responded.”.