Chalkboard TV has hired Stellify head of development Tom Popay as creative director.
At Stellify Popay has worked on a string of hit shows, including Blind Date for Channel 5, Celebrity Snoop Dogs for Channel 4, Can’t Touch This for BBC One and Flinch for Netflix. A self-shooting producer and creative director with a strong track record in managing creative teams, Popay has been responsible for devising entertainment, factual-entertainment and factual shows for number of broadcasters, including the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Netflix.
In his new role, Popay will spearhead the development of new business in both the domestic and international markets, and drive Chalkboard’s non-scripted ambitions. He will report directly to managing director Mike Benson, with whom he worked earlier in his career during a previous stint as a development producer for Chalkboard.
Popay will take over as creative director from Bill Hobbins, who is moving into the newly created position of director of programmes to deliver One Question, Chalkboard’s new primetime gameshow for Channel 4. Fronted by Claudia Winkleman, the 6 x 60 mins series will challenge two players to answer one single question to win a £100,000 prize. The contestants will be faced with 20 possible answers — but 19 of them will be wrong.
Tom Popay said: “I’m over the moon to be back at Chalkboard, which is a company I know well, having worked with Mike and his team in the past. Over the last five years, the team behind Chalkboard has taken massive strides — setting up a new scripted business with its sister company Clapperboard Studios, winning awards at Edinburgh and pulled in a string of commissions from across the UK’s regions and broadcasters, culminating in a high-profile primetime quiz for Channel 4. I see my mission as helping to supercharge that pace by building on Chalkboard’s success in non-scripted. I can’t wait to get started.”
Pippa Considine
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