First Dates creator to join as Managing Director of RDF London
Meredith Chambers has been appointed as MD of RDF London and will join the company later in the month.
Reporting to Kitty Walshe, Meredith will be responsible for managing the London based arm of the business and building on RDF’s reputation for popular factual, factual entertainment and formatted factual.
Jo Scarratt-Jones, Managing Director of RDF West, continues to be responsible for the business out of Bristol and Wales – which produces hits including Only Connect, Eat Well For Less? and Dickinson’s Real Deal – reporting to Kitty Walshe, Jo will work closely with Meredith to build the overall slate.
Alongside RDF, Kitty will continue to oversee Remarkable Factual, producers of shows such as Your Home Made Perfect, Inside Your Body with Kate Garraway, Animal Park and upcoming Design Your Dream for Channel 4, working closely with Director of Programmes Jo Smith who joined the business earlier in the year from the BBC.
Kitty Walshe said,
“Working with the brilliant duo of Meredith and Jo we are on a mission to make the next generation of big, purposeful fact ent shows that RDF is so well known for, while continuing to build the impressive slate of quiz and popular factual across the group. We have a great team in place, hugely exciting idea bubbling through, and big ambitions so watch this space.”
Meredith Chambers was formally MD at Electric Ray, where during his 8 years at the helm he was responsible for as sustained period of growth overseeing hits such as The Million Pound Menu (BBC2 and Netflix), Class of ‘92: Out of Their League (BBC One and Netflix), Alone at Home (C4), Call That Hard Work (BBC One) and Celebrity Cooking School (E4).
Prior to this Meredith was Creative Director of Twenty Twenty where he created international hit First Dates as well as other successful titles including The Hoarder Next Door (C4) and My Transexual Summer (C4).
Earlier in his career Meredith was Executive Editor at BBC Wales where he created award winning shows that revolutionised Cardiff’s originated output, and as Commissioning Editor for Documentaries at Channel 4 where he commissioned and oversaw flag ship series including Wife Swap, The Secret Millionaire and Cutting Edge.
Meredith Chambers said:
“I’m so proud of Electric Ray, and have loved being part of Sony, but when Kitty asked me to be part of her ambitious plans I just had to jump at the chance to work with her at such an exciting time. RDF has always been short-hand for ground-breaking, world-beating fact-ent and I can’t wait to get stuck in with Kitty, Jo and the whole RDF team to create the next generation of formats.”