Wise Owl forms youth-skewing division, Hoot

Yorkshire Firefighters indie, Wise Owl Films has formed a new, youth-skewing division – Hoot.

Led by Wise Owl Films and Hoot’s Head of Development, Lucy Smith, alongside key members of Hoot’s development team Nathalie Mayer and Kariim Case, Hoot is tasked with serving 16-34 year olds across a range of broadcasters and digital channels.

Hoot’s mission is to “celebrate the North as the urban, youthful, curious, culture-filled place that it really is, and to empower the exceptional young Northern creators who are ready to take centre stage.”

Channel 4 has already selected Hoot as one of four labels the channel is working with to find the next generation of on-screen talent from diverse backgrounds. Whilst off screen, Channel 4 is also collaborating with Wise Owl Films and Hoot to fund two Content Creative Trainee Researchers, to be based at the production company’s Leeds office.

Lucy Smith said: “Yorkshire is home to exceptional young creators taking centre stage in the Northern creative revolution. I couldn’t be prouder to launch Hoot and empower this entrepreneurial generation with the confidence, technical skills and pitching opportunities to get their ideas made.”

Kariim Case, who will be working alongside Smith, said: “Yorkshire in 2022 is a very different place to how it’s often portrayed on telly – it’s urban, youthful and culture-filled, not just whippets and flat caps! We’ve launched Hoot to shake up the status quo, shape the future of the content industry and counter the media image of the North of England simply as miles of countryside.”

Mark Robinson, Creative Director of Wise Owl Films, said: “We are now approaching the fourth anniversary of Wise Owl’s foundation, and even in that short time, television and content has changed enormously. While still committed to producing the wide range of factual and factual entertainment programming that Wise Owl has become known for so quickly, we also wanted to adapt our identity and development goals to recognise the rapidly-changing times. We feel that launching Hoot as a label within a label will clearly brand this bespoke, innovative output so we can best serve the growing thirst for youth-skewing content across many different platforms”.