Kenton Allen
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Kenton Allen is a British television producer and executive. He became Chief Executive of Big Talk Studios in September 2008. He is a multi-award–winning programme-maker with credits including the BAFTA Award-winning sitcoms '' The Royle Family'' and '' Rev.'' and the Oscar-winning film '' Six Shooter''. He was the Advisory Chair of the Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival 2012.


Early life

He was born in
Stourbridge Stourbridge () is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Situated on the River Stour, Worcestershire, River Stour, the town lies around west of Birmingham, at the southwester ...
,
Worcestershire Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...
and educated at the Grange Comprehensive School, and King Edward VI College, Stourbridge. He turned down a place to study the clarinet and saxophone at the Royal School of Music. In 1983, aged 18, he joined the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
at Pebble Mill in Birmingham. His first BBC job was as a trainee studio manager, working on radio, TV and film productions as a sound recordist on productions including '' Howards' Way'', '' Pebble Mill at One'', and ''
The Archers ''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...
'', where he spent three months doing spot Fx and once played Aunt Laura's dead body wrapped in ¼ inch recording tape.


Radio


BBC Radio (1986–1990)

In 1986 he moved to BBC Radio Nottingham where he briefly worked as a producer/presenter. This led to two simultaneous job offers from
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
and
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
. He took both and worked for a year as a producer on Ned Sherrin's Sony award-winning '' Loose Ends'' for BBC Radio 4 before moving to BBC Radio 1 in 1988 where he became the station's youngest ever producer. At BBC Radio 1 he produced Simon Bates, '' Steve Wright in the Afternoon'', ''Walters Weekly'' presented by John Peel's producer John Walters and created a new series ''Jonathan Ross Live from Ronnie Scott's'', which was broadcast live from Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club on Fridays at 6 pm for 13 weeks. The script for the series was written by Danny Baker and the diverse range of guests included a memorable appearance by
Robert Maxwell Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovakia, Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, politician and fraudster. After escaping the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, ...
.


Television


Channel X (1990–1994)

In 1990 he joined the recently formed independent production company Channel X to produce all of Jonathan Ross's shows. He produced over 200 live editions of '' Tonight with Jonathan Ross'' for Channel 4. In 1991 he produced ''Jonathan Ross Presents Madonna'', which became Channel 4's highest rated entertainment programme of the year. Other credits include the innovative live comedy entertainment series ''Saturday Zoo'' which featured the live television debuts of the likes of
Steve Coogan Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English-Irish actor, comedian, screenwriter and producer. His accolades include four BAFTA Awards and three British Comedy Awards, and nominations for two Academy Awards and a Golden Globe Aw ...
, John Thompson, Lily Savage, and Mark Thomas, and the factual entertainment hit ''Fantastic Facts'' for ITV.


Granada (1994–1997)

In 1994, he joined Granada Television's Entertainment Department where he developed and produced a wide range of comedy and entertainment programming including ''
Lucky Numbers ''Lucky Numbers'' is a 2000 black comedy film directed by Nora Ephron. It stars John Travolta, Lisa Kudrow, Tim Roth, Ed O'Neill, Michael Rapaport, Richard Schiff, Daryl Mitchell, Bill Pullman, and Michael Moore in a rare acting role. T ...
'', ''The Shane Richie Experience'', '' Stars in Their Eyes'' and '' The Mrs Merton Show''. He was appointed Head of Development, and ran all of Granada's entertainment development across the full spectrum of the entertainment genre.


Lucky Dog Ltd (1998–1999)

In February 1998, he became managing director of Lucky Dog Ltd, a member of the Chrysalis Group. He co-devised and produced the adult comedy series ''A Many Splintered Thing'' starring Alan Davies for BBC1.


Granada (1997–2001)

In March 1999, he re-joined
Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...
to continue his creative collaboration with
Caroline Aherne Caroline Mary Aherne (24 December 1963 – 2 July 2016) was an English actress, comedian, writer and director. She was best known for performing as the acerbic chat show host '' Mrs Merton'', in various roles in '' The Fast Show'', and as Denise ...
. Allen produced two series and two Christmas specials of the multi-award-winning '' The Royle Family'' as well as
Harry Enfield Henry Richard Enfield (born 30 May 1961) is an English comedian. He is known in particular for his television work, including '' Harry Enfield's Television Programme'', '' Harry Enfield & Chums'' and '' Harry & Paul'', across which he created ...
's ''Sermon from St Albion's'' for ITV and an award-winning documentary ''Back Passage To India'' for BBC1, which involved dragging
Caroline Aherne Caroline Mary Aherne (24 December 1963 – 2 July 2016) was an English actress, comedian, writer and director. She was best known for performing as the acerbic chat show host '' Mrs Merton'', in various roles in '' The Fast Show'', and as Denise ...
and Craig Cash unwillingly around remote Indian villages for three weeks.


Shine (2001–2003)

In January 2001, he was approached by Elisabeth Murdoch to become the founding creative director of the independent production company Shine. Allen was a key member of the launch team that secured the initial start-up financing. He quickly established the core creative divisions and overall creative strategy for the start-up company and recruited the core business affairs, finance, and creative personnel. He also established a talent incubator for comedy film directors in partnership with the
UK Film Council The UK Film Council (UKFC) was a non-departmental public body set up in 2000 to develop and promote the film industry in the UK. It was constituted as a private company limited by guarantee, owned by the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and ...
and Film4.


BBC Television (2003–2008)

Allen was BBC's Creative Head of Comedy Talent and Comedy North. He joined the BBC as its comedy editor in February 2003, and was responsible for developing and producing all forms of comedy for the four main BBC broadcast networks and running the in-house production teams. He immediately established a department based in Manchester called Comedy North. He produced and executive-produced a diverse range of comedy programming including the BAFTA-winning sketch show '' That Mitchell and Webb Look'' (BBC Two), the BAFTA-nominated drama series '' Funland'' (BBC Three), '' The Omid Djalili Show'' (BBC One), '' After You've Gone'' (BBC One), ''
Freezing Freezing is a phase transition in which a liquid turns into a solid when its temperature is lowered below its freezing point. For most substances, the melting and freezing points are the same temperature; however, certain substances possess dif ...
'' (BBC Two), '' The Visit'' (BBC One and BBC Three), '' Massive'' (BBC Three) and four series of '' Ideal'' (BBC Two and BBC Three).


Big Talk Studios (2008–present)

Allen became CEO of Big Talk Studios in 2008. There he has produced two six-part comedies which were broadcast to record audiences and huge critical acclaim. The BAFTA-winning '' Rev.'' created by James Wood and Tom Hollander for BBC2 scooped four titles at the Broadcasting Press Guild Awards and was nominated at the BAFTAs for Best Situation Comedy. '' Him & Her'', the most successful sitcom launch in the history of BBC3, written by Stefan Golaszewski and starring Russell Tovey and Sarah Solemani, picked up Best Comedy Performance for the two stars at the Royal Television Society Awards. Having acknowledged the loyal audience of ''Him & Her'' during its first and second series, a third series was commissioned. Upcoming is a second series for '' Threesome'' (
Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...
), a sitcom by Tom MacRae, starring Amy Huberman, Emun Elliot and Stephen Wight, and ''
Friday Night Dinner ''Friday Night Dinner'' is a British sitcom created by Robert Popper that aired on Channel 4 from 25 February 2011 to 1 May 2020. Starring Tamsin Greig, Paul Ritter, Simon Bird, Tom Rosenthal, and Mark Heap, it follows the regular Friday ...
'' (Channel 4), written and produced by Robert Popper and starring
Tamsin Greig Tamsin Margaret Mary Greig (; born 12 July 1966) is a British actress. She is known for both dramatic and comedic roles. She played Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Black Books'', Dr Caroline Todd in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Green W ...
, Paul Ritter, Simon Bird and Tom Rosenthal. Both are currently in post-production. Following their successful pilots, ''Chickens'' (Sky 1), written by and starring Simon Bird, Joe Thomas and
Jonny Sweet Jonathan Huw Sweet (born 1985) is a British comedian and the recipient of the 2009 Edinburgh Comedy Award for best newcomer. Early life Sweet was born in Nottingham and educated at the local independent school Nottingham High School. He read ...
, and ''The Job Lot'', a series for ITV written by Claire Downes, Ian Jarvis and Stuart Lane, are both underway for a full series. Currently shooting is the third series of '' Him & Her'' and Big Talk's first three-part contemporary drama ''The Town'' (ITV), written by Laurence Olivier award-winning playwright Mike Bartlett. In addition, miniseries ''A Young Doctor's Notebook'', which Big Talk is producing for Sky Arts, and stars
Jon Hamm Jonathan Daniel Hamm (born March 10, 1971) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Don Draper in the period drama series '' Mad Men'' (2007–2015), for which he won numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and tw ...
and Daniel Radcliffe, has just finished shooting. Allen is the Advisory Chair of the 2012 Media Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival.


Film

In 2005, he was nominated for his third BAFTA for producing the film '' Six Shooter'', written and directed by Olivier award-winning playwright
Martin McDonagh Martin Faranan McDonagh ( ; born 26 March 1970) is a British-Irish playwright and filmmaker. He is known for his Absurdism, absurdist Black comedy, dark humour which often challenges the modern theatre aesthetic. He has won List of awards and no ...
. The film won an Oscar at the 2006 Academy Awards.


Personal life

He is married to the writer and author Imogen Edwards-Jones. They have two children, Allegra and Rafe. The difficult conception of Allegra was written about by Edwards-Jones in a recurring ''Daily Telegraph'' column that were subsequently collected into a book called '' The Stork Club''.


Awards and recognition


Credits


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Kenton Mass media people from Birmingham, West Midlands Living people 1965 births People educated at King Edward VI College, Stourbridge