Ant & Dec’s Mitre Studios hires Talkback & BBC alum Ed Sleeman as managing director

Ed Sleeman (Source: Mitre Studios)

Mitre Studios, the UK production company run by TV personalities Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, have appointed Great Scott Media co-founder and Talkback and BBC alum Ed Sleeman to the position of managing director.

Sleeman will lead the team and drive content opportunities across multiple platforms and genres. Reporting directly to the board, he will oversee the continued growth into branded and non-branded content.

The former Talkback MD and onetime BBC commissioning editor said: “I was drawn to the job by the vision and tremendous ambition outlined by Ant and Dec. Their aspirations to expand the company’s footprint as both an originator and producer of global formats, alongside becoming a prolific producer of Digital and Branded Content resonated with me deeply.”

Prior to joining Mitre Studios, Sleeman co-founded and served as joint-MD of Great Scott Media. Before that, he was MD at Talkback, where he was the executive producer and co-creator of shows including Too Hot To Handle for Netflix and Harry’s Heroes for ITV1. He was also the exec producer of Through The Keyhole for ITV and Your Face Or Mine for Comedy Central.

Before his tenure at Talkback, Sleeman was a commissioning editor for entertainment at the BBC where he commissioned productions such as Murder In Successville and Asian Provocateur.

Mitre Studios is behind shows including DNA Journey, Limitless Win, In For A Penny, I’m A Celebrity South Africa and Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, with the production company currently in development on a remake of BBC teen drama Byker Grove.

Originally broadcast on BBC One between 1989 and 2006, the Newcastle-based show was a coming-of-age series revolving around the members of a youth club, with a young Ant and Dec starring as popular characters PJ and Duncan – under which names they also launched a pop career in the 1990s.

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