Welsh indie Wildflame recruits Outline exec as production head & rejigs team

Wiliam Gruffydd Edwards

Welsh factual indie Wildflame Productions has appointed Wiliam Gruffydd Edwards as head of production and rejigged his new team.

In his new role, Edwards will be responsible for overseeing its slate of productions, as well as company operations, supporting and developing Wildflame’s team and leading on inclusion and company welfare.

Wildflame has promoted Rebecca Merry to the new role of production manager to work alongside Edwards. She was formerly production co-ordinator, having joined in 2021.

Catrin Mair Jones has meanwhile been named executive producer, to head up Wildflame’s Welsh language output, while Manon Alice Thomas has been upped to senior production co-ordinator & executive assistant.

Edwards joins from Outline Productions where he served as production executive, managing all of the company’s output and business operations in South Wales and London. Prior to Outline Productions, he was head of production at Boomerang, working across factual, factual entertainment, sports and sports entertainment programming, managing both the day-to-day business and the long-term planning of the company’s output.

He also previously served as head of production at Atlantic Productions and at Wild Dream Films, as well as holding in-house roles at the BBC. Edwards has also provided freelance production management and producer services to a range of indies.

His credits include Sarah Beeny versus Cancer and Sarah Beeny’s New Life in the Country for Channel 4; Michel Roux Provence Masterclass for Discovery/Food; Big Zuu’s Big Eats for UKTV and What Would Your Kid Do? for ITV.

“Wil is one of the best heads of production in the business. He has an outstanding track record of managing production teams and his reputation as an inspirational and inclusive leader is matched by the respect in which he is held in the industry,” said Wildflame CEO Paul Islwyn Thomas.

Wildflame Productions is behind factual titles including Sex, Me & Disability for S4C; Strictly Amy: Crohn’s & Me, Amy Dowden: Dare to Dance and One Man and His Island for BBC One; and Yellowstone Supervolcano: American Doomsday for Discovery+.