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Studio71 UK Hires Joe Varley as Director of Development, in Newly Created Role
The former Fulwell73 and Zeppotron Exec joins Studio71 UK in a newly created role to further supercharge the company’s development slate following its successful broadcast commissions.
Studio71 UK, a Red Arrow Studios company, today announces the hire of Joe Varley as Director of Development.
In his new position, Varley will lead the expansion of Studio71 UK’s development slate, across comedy entertainment, factual and scripted comedy, reporting to Jody Smith, Studio71 UK VP Creative Director.
A veteran of the television industry, Varley joins the team with over a decade of experience. Previously, he has held Development Executive roles at Fulwell73 and Wonder TV Productions, and Head of Development at Endemol-owned Zeppotron and Tiger Aspect. His credits include BAFTA-winning Fonejacker (E4/C4) and Facejacker (C4) as well as developing BAFTA-winning Murder in Successville (BBC Three), Drunk History UK (Comedy Central), viral hit Little Prankers (BBC Three), and he is the creator of ITV’s Dinner Date format. Throughout his career, he has created, developed and produced television programmes for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Comedy Central and has multiple other production credits under his belt including Room 101 (BBC), Britain Today Tonight (C4) and Alan Carr: Chatty Man (C4).
Varley’s addition will boost Studio71 UK’s development slate following several new scripted and unscripted commissions for multiple broadcasters and platforms, including: recently-announced reality wedding show Countdown To I Do is in production for TLC, following a 2019 wedding series also for the channel; an 18-part series, Forged With Steele, for HISTORY UK with blacksmith Alec Steele; and the scripted comedy series Fully Blown with breakout viral talent Donna Preston and Verona Rose for BBC Three. Studio71 UK has also created formats for social including several BBC Factual series such as IGTV doc Fashion Conscious and three series for BBC’s Tiny Happy People and has produced original series for digital platforms such as Snapchat.
Jody Smith, Studio71 UK VP Creative Director, says: “Joe’s passion for new talent and ability to develop smart, funny ideas makes him the perfect fit for Studio71. Through our talent agency Moxie, we work with some of the UK’s best entertainers for young, diverse audiences, creating fun factual and comedy entertainment. In Joe we have found someone who knows how to build exciting TV projects around this type of talent, and make use of the detailed knowledge we have of their audience’s behaviour.”
Varley adds, “While it may be a while before we can all brainstorm in the same room again, now is an incredibly exciting time to join such a fresh thinking company. As TV is increasingly being challenged by online and new platforms, Studio71 is brilliantly positioned to bridge that gap, and with my passion for working with new talent and creating fun formats, I hope to bring more inventiveness and escapism to screen.”
Part of Red Arrow Studios, Studio71 was established in the UK in 2017 as a multi-channel network and now works with hundreds of digital creators across multiple platforms. It began its production unit and podcast network in 2018, and has since created shows for linear and digital, and has a slate of ten different podcasts covering comedy, health & wellbeing, film, food and sex & relationships. In 2019, it launched its boutique talent agency, Moxie to help discover and empower talented entertainers from the digital space, which picked up Best Agency for New Talent Edinburgh TV Festival’s New Voice Awards in February 2020.
For further information on Studio71 UK or its production slate, contact phie.mckenzie@studio71uk.com.
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Studio71 UK Launches Two New Personality-led Podcasts as it Announces Downloads Across its Slate Cross 1 Million Mark
in Studio71 North America onComedy podcast ‘Daddy Look at Me’ and food podcast ‘Come for Supper’ brings Studio71 UK’s roster to eight original podcasts, with a combined total of 1 million listens
Studio71 UK, a Red Arrow Studios company, today announces the upcoming release of two new podcasts, ‘Daddy Look at Me’ with comedians Rosie Jones and Helen Bauer and ‘Come for Supper’ with food writer and presenter, Alexandra Dudley. Both shows are original, personality-led formats, with ‘Daddy Look at Me’ becoming the second comedy podcast produced by the production company and ‘Come for Supper’ its first venture into food, bringing its slate to a total of eight shows.
The announcement comes as Studio71 UK’s reveals its total podcast streams has surpassed the one million mark across six of its existing shows which include ‘Power Hour’ hosted by presenter and wellness expert, Adrienne Herbert, ‘F**ks Given’ with YouTubers Come Curious and ‘Mystery on the Rocks’ with comedians Chris Stokes, Masud Milas and Sooz Kempner. The podcast division from the global media company’s UK arm was launched in May 2018 with the release of ‘Educating Josh’, and now includes comedy, health and wellness, sex and relationships, current affairs, food and film shows.
Daddy Look at Me
‘Daddy Look at Me’ will launch on Thursday 20th June and is hosted by British stand-up comedians and writers Rosie Jones and Helen Bauer. The podcast draws on Bauer and Jones’ own experiences of fame and is a raucous exploration of why some people are destined to become stars. In each episode, they invite a fellow comedian onto the show to identify the pivotal moments in their lives that set them on the path for comedy – and their voracious need for attention. The weekly 30-45-minute show will launch with three episodes with star guests Nish Kumar, Sophie Duker and Ed Gamble. Guests including Tom Allen, Suzi Ruffell, Sindhu Vee, Harriet Kemsley and more will appear later in the series.
Hear the trailer on iTunes and Spotify
Come for Supper
Released the following week on Wednesday 27th June, is ‘Come for Supper’, Studio71’s first foray into the world of food and hospitality. The show is hosted by food writer, presenter and supper club host Alexandra Dudley, a Town & Country columnist and presenter of the Soho House series ‘How to Host a Dinner Party’. The audio format sees Dudley speak with a different personality she’s been inspired by throughout her career, to discover how they like to entertain. Guests on the show will include chefs and restauranteurs, authors, actors and artists. ‘Come for Supper’ will also launch with three episodes on the day of launch, featuring celebrated figures in food including chef and Masterchef judge Monica Galetti, Polpo founder Russell Norman and Great British Bake-Off contestant Manon Lagrève, continuing with a different guest each week across food, the arts and entertainment.
Hear the trailer on iTunes and Spotify
‘Come for Supper’ will be the fourth podcast format launched in 2019 so far, having released ‘Bleeding on the Page’ with film YouTubers NitPix and ‘Mystery on the Rocks’ earlier this year. Studio71 UK sees the growth in the roster of podcasts as a continuation of its investment in brilliant, diverse talent and formats for a contemporary audience, which has become a core part of its production arm. Since the division was launched, Studio71 UK has evolved the audio format to produce live events and tours, holding both ‘Educating Josh’ and ‘F**ks Given’ live shows at VidCon London this year and ‘Power Hour’ live at TwentyTwo Bishopsgate. Studio71 UK has partnered with brands such as Red Bull, The Economist, Deliveroo and Lelo on sponsored content across its shows, and plans to develop further podcasts in Q3/4 to cover sport, music, family and parenthood verticals.
Tom Payne, Head of Content at Studio71 UK says “We’ve absolutely loved creating these two new podcasts with Alexandra, Rosie and Helen – incredible and very different personalities who will bring something different to the audio world. We’re excited to be expanding into new verticals too with the launch of ‘Come for Supper’ and will continue our commitment to recognising interesting, relevant talent to work on our growing roster of podcasts.”
Jody Smith, Creative Director of Studio71 UK, adds “We’re committed to representing diverse voices and passionate experts across our podcasts, video slate and talent network. It’s exciting to have so many brilliant people coming through our doors and working out the best show and platform for them. Crossing the million listens mark must mean we’re doing something right.”
Studio71 UK continues the global company’s commitment to producing, developing and distributing diverse and different new formats that aimed at the coveted 18-35 age bracket. Both podcasts bring more young, dynamic personalities into the podcast world, broadening Studio71 UK’s slate further ‘Daddy Look at Me’ and ‘Come for Supper are Studio71 productions, produced by Jack Claramunt and executively produced by Tom Payne and Jody Smith.
