Ealing studios, Britain's oldest film complex, have announced an exclusive two year co-production deal with American movie giant Miramax.

The deal will boost the studios' planned £50m makeover of its 3.8 acre West London site and fuel the international demand for quintessentially British storylines.

The studios, once a byword for Ealing comedy with classics such as Whisky Galore! and The Lavender Hill Mob, will attract not only comedy but big budget dramas, thrillers and animated epics.

Fragile Films, Ealing's co-owner and sister company, said the Miramax deal reflected continued interest in the "character" of British film.

The news comes as a backdrop to this year's Cannes film festival and the US release of the first Ealing film for 40 years: Oliver Parker's adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, which stars homegrown talents Judi Dench, Colin Firth and Rupert Everett alongside rising US star Reese Witherspoon.

Among Miramax's projects in development at Ealing are Nice Easy One, a send-up of the pub quiz, and Fade to Black, a story about the young Orson Welles in Rome.

Barnaby Thompson, a partner in Fragile Films, said: "There were certain qualities the word Ealing conjured up - good films, acting talent and a certain kind of innate Britishness. We want to make it a home for British talent."

Take a Thames Tour of Rotherhithe including the home of London's whaling and timber trades

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