Remy Blumenfeld (born 1965) is a British

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon a ...

and format creator, who co-founded the production company Brighter Pictures which he sold to

Endemol Endemol B.V. was a Dutch-based media company that produced and distributed multiplatform entertainment content. The company annually produced more than 15,000 hours of programming across scripted and non-scripted genres, including drama, reality ...

in 2004. He is the TV format creator of '' There's Something About Miriam'', ''

Gay, Straight or Taken? ''Gay, Straight or Taken?'' is an American reality television series broadcast by Lifetime. The series premiered on January 8, 2007, and its eighteenth and final episode aired on March 12, 2007. Filmed in Los Angeles, California, each episode ...

'', '' Wudja Cudja'' and '' Undercover Lovers''. According to ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'', Blumenfeld has created and produced more than 30 original television series, which also include

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins ...

's ''Tabloid Tales with Piers Morgan'' and ''My Worst Week'', and

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

's ''Get a New Life''.

Life and career

Blumenfeld was born in Paris, the son of American parents. His father Yorick Blumenfeld is a writer. His mother Helaine Blumenfeld is a sculptor. His grandfather was the fashion photographer,

Erwin Blumenfeld Erwin Blumenfeld (26 January 1897 – 4 July 1969) was an American photographer of German origin. He was born in Berlin, and in 1941 emigrated to the United States, where he soon became a successful and well-paid fashion photographer, working a ...

, about whom he made a 2013 documentary for BBC4 – ''The Man Who Shot Beautiful Women''. Blumenfeld spent his early years in New York and Vienna before his family moved to the UK and settled in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

. He attended

Bedales School Bedales School is a co-educational, boarding and day independent school in the village of Steep, near the market town of Petersfield in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1893 by John Haden Badley in reaction to the limitations of conventi ...

and in the summers acted with the

National Youth Theatre The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and registered charity in London. Its aim is to develop and nurture young people through creative arts and theatrical productions. Founded in 1956 as the world's first youth the ...

. After leaving school he worked in the New York City area for several years as a reporter for

WPIX WPIX (channel 11) is a television station in New York City. Owned by Mission Broadcasting, it is operated under a local marketing agreement (LMA) by Nexstar Media Group, making it a ''de facto'' owned-and-operated station and flagship of The ...

and

WWOR-TV WWOR-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area as the Flagship (broadcasting), flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned-and-operated station, owned and operated by Fox Te ...

. He recalls knowing that he was gay from the age of eight. On his return to the UK Blumenfeld founded the production company Brighter Pictures with Gavin Hay in 1991. It was bought by

in 2001, but he remained at Endemol for several years as creative director for Brighter Pictures. During his time at Brighter Pictures he also produced the BBC4 documentary ''The Other Francis Bacon''. Later, Blumenfeld joined

ITV Studios ITV Studios is a British multinational television production and distribution company owned by the British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadca ...

where he worked until 2010 as director of formats. At ITV he exported TV shows such as '' Come Dine with Me'', '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' and Four Weddings internationally and launched production divisions in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

and

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. In 2016, Blumenfeld co-founded The Hot House, a TV production incubator. During his career he has also produced several stage plays, including ''Eunuchs In My Wardrobe'' (

Edinburgh Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

, 2011) and Tennessee Williams's ''

Confessional A confessional is a box, cabinet, booth, or stall in which the priest in some Christian churches sits to hear the confessions of penitents. It is the usual venue for the sacrament in the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Churches, but si ...

'' (

Southwark Playhouse Southwark Playhouse is a theatre in London, located between Borough and Elephant and Castle tube stations. History The Southwark Playhouse Theatre Company was founded in 1993 by Juliet Alderdice and Tom Wilson. They identified the need for a h ...

, 2016). Blumenfeld was ranked 19th in ''

The Independent on Sunday ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...

''s 2006 Pink List of the most influential gay men and women in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

References

External links

*
Q&A: Remy Blumenfeld
at ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Hollywood film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade paper, and in 2010 switched to a weekly large ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Blumenfeld, Remy Living people British television executives National Youth Theatre members British Jews People educated at Bedales School 1965 births