AP Films

Anderson Provis Films

Industry	Television production, film production, publishing
Genre	Science fiction, fantasy
Fate	Dissolved
Predecessor	Polytechnic Films, Pentagon Films
Successor	Anderson Burr Pictures
Founded	Maidenhead, Berkshire, England (1957)
Founder	Gerry Anderson, Arthur Provis
Defunct	1977
Headquarters	Slough Trading Estate, Slough
Key people	Sylvia Anderson, Reg Hill, John Read
Products	Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Thunderbirds Are Go, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Thunderbird 6, Doppelgänger, UFO, Space: 1999
Owner	Lew Grade (1962–70)
Number of employees	200+ (peak)
Subsidiaries	Arrow Productions, Century 21 Merchandising

AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. The company became world famous with its imaginative children's action-adventure marionette television series – most notably Thunderbirds – produced for British independent broadcasting companies Associated-Rediffusion, Granada, ABC Weekend Television and Associated Television. At its height, the company employed more than 200 staff.

Established in 1957 by editor-director Gerry Anderson and cinematographer Arthur Provis, following the liquidation of their employer Polytechnic Films, AP Films ("Anderson Provis") was set up. They took with them producer Reg Hill, cinematographer John Read and secretary Sylvia Thamm (who would later become Anderson's second wife). The company was created with the intention of it becoming a conventional film production house.

With no commissions and funds running low, APF were approached with an offer of collaboration with children's author Roberta Leigh and her colleague Suzanne Warner to produce the puppet TV series The Adventures of Twizzle for Associated-Rediffusion. With some reluctance, the company took on the commission and the programme was such a success that it immediately led to a further collaboration with Leigh for the first series of Torchy the Battery Boy (also for Associated-Rediffusion).

In 1959, Provis left the company amicably following disagreements with Anderson over future strategy. APF then went on to make its first wholly independent production of Four Feather Falls, a puppet Western created by Barry Gray (better known for his musical contributions to the company's productions), for Granada Television. In 1960, APF made a live-action thriller feature film, Crossroads to Crime, for Anglo-Amalgamated, and a series of TV advertisements for a London travel company.