Hughes joins Hot House indie incubator

Former UK indie boss Richard Hughes is joining the Hot House, the indie and production incubator set up by Remy Blumenfeld and Justin Bodle.

Hughes, who worked at Blumenfeld’s Brighter Pictures before it was sold to Endemol (now Endemol Shine Group), was the co-founder of Transparent Television, selling his stake in the indie to Argonon last year.

At Hot House, he will team with Fernando de Jesus at Thinking Violets, rather than create his own label. The indie was created by former ITV exec Blumenfeld and folded into the Hot House group when it was created.

Hughes’ programming credits include series Botched Up Bodies, Restoration Roadshow and 3 Celebs and a Baby. He said today: “I’m extremely excited to be working within the creative and diverse framework of The Hot House.

Having worked at Brighter Pictures in its early days, I’ve always been impressed by Remy’s popular approach which definitely influenced the kind of programming I’ve made throughout my career.”

Remy Blumenfeld said Hughes had “an instinct for gettable, relatable programming that’s fun to watch”, adding: “I’m excited by the way in which Richard and Fernando’s very different sensibilities and experience will combine.”

Hot House currently counts Kerfuffle TV, Thinking Violets and SeriouslyTV in the group. It is run by Blumenfeld, Bodle and and head of production Jo Juson.

Bodle’s involvement is through his Purecom investment vehicle. It recently acquired Power, the production and distribution group Bodle created in the mid-nineties.