Clelia Mountford’s scripted indie Sunburnt Penguin has appointed former ITV and SKY commissioner Saskia Schuster as Executive Producer.
Schuster will build a slate of comedies and dramas at the All3Media-backed label and will work closely with founder Mountford on a range of projects currently in various stages of funded development.
Prior to joining Sunburnt Penguin, Schuster was Head of Scripted at Fulwell 73 where she established a new department, creating the strategy for Fulwell UK Scripted and developing a slate of drama and comedy projects. Talent included Jez Butterworth, James Graham, Stephen Poliakoff, Jessica Hynes, Jack Whitehall, Tom Basden, Sue Perkins.
As Head of Comedy and Comedy Drama at ITV, Schuster was responsible for commissioning shows including Plebs, Timewasters, Benidorm, Don’t Hate the Playaz, Birds of a Feather and Vicious.
Schuster’s commissioning credits at SKY include Yonderland, Psychobitches, A Young Doctor’s Notebook, Little Crackers, Walking the Dogs, Nellie and Melba, City Hall and Nixon’s the One.
In the indie sector, Schuster produced series 3 of The Armstrong and Miller Show, The Armstrong and Miller Live Tour and co-produced Felix and Murdo, while at Toff Media.
In addition, as Head of Development at Objective, she worked on iconic comedy titles including Peep Show, Fresh Meat, Star Stories and Pete Vs Life.
Mountford said: “Saskia has fantastic broadcast commissioning experience, as well as years of production expertise with iconic, popular and genre-defying programming credits under her belt. She is full of brilliant, creative ideas, but is also disciplined and strategic in her approach. She is a passionate mentor to new and emerging talent, as evidenced in her work as founder of Comedy 50:50. I am beyond delighted Saskia has joined Sunburnt Penguin. And to top it all, she’s my sister!”
Schuster said: “Growing up, we were obsessed with stories and put on endless productions in the back garden to the bemusement of our neighbours. Now I get to work with Clelia and I’m excited we can continue our shared passion for scripted content. Sunburnt Penguin embodies Clelia’s vision for outstanding scripted programmes, beautifully executed with wit and heart. I am looking forward to working with emerging talent, as well as some of the most established names in the industry to build my own slate and collaborate on existing projects.”
Completing the Sunburnt Penguin team is Creative Assistant Ye-Ye Fadaka who joined in early 2025. Fadaka supports the team editorially and collaborates closely with writers to bring projects onto the development slate. Her role involves actively contributing to the development process to help shape compelling new content.
Prior to joining Sunburnt Penguin, Fadaka was an Assistant at Tiger Aspect and Banijay’s Creative Networks team.
Sunburnt Penguin was founded by multi-BAFTA award-winning television and film producer, Mountford. Previously she co-founded Merman with Sharon Horgan in 2014, where she executive produced two series of the BAFTA award-winning, and EMMY nominated Bad Sisters for Apple TV+; Channel 4’s Pushers, starring Rosie Jones, and Amandaland, for the BBC, starring Lucy Punch, as well as the SKY comedy drama Dreamland, starring Lily Allen and Freema Agyeman.
Mountford also produced two series of BBC 2’s award-winning There She Goes, written by Shaun Pye and starring David Tennant and Jessica Hynes, and the critically-acclaimed There She Goes special.
Jon Creamer
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