U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 has appointed Charlie Perkins as head of comedy, reporting into chief content officer Ian Katz. Former head of comedy Fiona McDermott left Channel 4 in March to join Apple TV+.
Perkins will manage a team comprising newly promoted commissioning editor Laura Riseam and commissioning executive Joe Hullait. She will also oversee the appointment of a new senior commissioning editor. Channel 4 commissioning editor Jack Bayles is leaving the broadcaster to join “I May Destroy You” producer Various Artists Limited as head of comedy.
Perkins, who will take up the role at Channel 4 later this year, joins from Blink Industries where she was head of comedy. She began her career working on shows such as “Little Britain,” “French & Saunders,” “Benidorm” and “Mock the Week,” moving on to become a producer at alternative comedy venue The Invisible Dot, BBC Radio Comedy and Cave Bear Productions. In 2013, Perkins founded The Paddock comedy collective, an experimental, new material platform for performers and filmmakers. She is also one of the co-founders of the Live Comedy Association and founder of the Free-Free Movement.
At Blink, Perkins produced comedy series “Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared,” which will air on Channel 4 later this year and during her time there the company has been behind Netflix 2D animated series “Dead End: Paranormal Park” and E4 short-form animated format “Blind Love on a First Date Island.”
Katz said: “Channel 4 comedy has always been about betting on brilliant and iconoclastic new talent and Charlie is squarely in that tradition. She has an unerring ear for funny, has nurtured and collaborated with some of Britain’s most exciting and distinctive comedy talent and had an ambitious and original vision for the future of Channel 4 comedy. With a succession of wonderful shows from ‘Derry Girls’ to ‘We are Lady Parts’ and ‘Big Boys,’ Fiona McDermott has delivered a purple patch for Channel 4 comedy and, along with Laura and Joe, I’m convinced that Charlie will continue that success.”
Perkins added: “Creating platforms and opportunities for people to develop and thrive in their work has been the primary focus of my career to date – prioritising creative freedom, originality, tenacity and passion. I’m unbelievably honoured to now get to do this at scale at Channel 4; the place where all of our favorite comedy shows come from, a place which has vitality, risk-taking and art at its very core. Comedy is tattooed on my soul and I cannot wait to get started.”
