The international division of the Hollywood studio will fund and distribute scripted projects from the fledgling indie, established by the Batman actor and production partner Dean Baker. It has struck a two-year deal.

Hardy Son and Baker, which is co-producing BBC1 period drama Taboo with director Ridley Scott, will work closely on new projects with NBCU’s executive vice president of scripted programming JoAnn Alfano and president Michael Edelstein.

Taboo, due to be shot in the UK in 2015, does not form part of the agreement.

“Tom and Dean are passionate storytellers with a talent for telling original, unconventional stories and attracting first class talent,” said Alfano. “We can’t wait to develop all of their exciting ideas and look forward to sharing their compelling stories with audiences around the world.”

Hardy added: “This partnership is a fantastic next step in the endeavour to build our company into a major international TV drama producer.”

Baker said that the indie was inspired by 1970s cinema icons such as Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Stanley Kubrick. “At its best, television with its deeply nuanced characters and complex narratives is, by far, the most exciting and ambitious dramatic medium,” he added.