Millionaire creators open new formats business Boxatricks

The creators of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and former boss at Hat Trick and Celador have joined forces to launch a new firm, Boxatricks.

The company will create gameshow and quiz formats as well as fact-ent projects.

Michael Whitehill and David Briggs are the pair that created Millionaire, which went on to become a global hit and will be creative directors.

Colman Hutchinson will take the same title. Formerly head of entertainment at both Hat Trick Productions and Celador Productions, he also worked on Millionaire.

Steve Springford is a former director of production at Celador will be the Boxatricks managing director. The new business is not, he said, a production company: “Boxatricks isn’t about becoming a producer – it’s about applying our creative and production experience to bring great game show formats to broadcasters and digital platforms.”

Colman Hutchinson added: “Formatted entertainment is the genre most associated with high-profile audience engagement, peak ratings, commercial spin-offs and international reach. Creating and producing a global game show hit is the holy grail for most of the TV industry worldwide. Boxatricks brings together some of the best brains in the industry to originate new formats both for broadcast and for wider roll-out across all platforms.”