Greenbird carries off Kalel

Production incubator Greenbird Media has added another indie to its roster, backing a former winner of BBC3’s Pitch Idol competition.

Nick Parnes

Kalel Productions was set up by Nick Parnes in 2005 after winning £50,000 (US$72,800) in the competition.

The factual entertainment specialist recently produced Stupid Man Smart Phone, which was a co-commission by BBC Worldwide for BBC Brit and BBC3.

The comedy survival series, with Russell Kane and a mobile phone, coproduced by Kalel Productions and Objective Productions, is due to air next month.

Kalel signed a coproduction deal with Objective in 2009 and has since produced shows including The Undercover Princes/Princesses and Police Academy UK for the BBC and Eye Spy for Channel 4.

Kalel has also expanded into the US market with two seasons of both Secret Princes for Discovery’s TLC and Make Me a Millionaire Inventor for CNBC.

Parnes said: “Working with Greenbird is the next stage of Kalel’s development and I’m delighted to get the support to allow my team to focus on the creative execution of our headline-grabbing programme ideas.

“I have enjoyed working with Objective, which has been a great home for Kalel formats, but the time feels right to leave and allow my company’s independence to flourish.”

Stuart Mullin, joint MD of Greenbird, said: “Nick is great and his formats are intelligently put together and funny. We’re delighted that Kalel Productions joins the Greenbird network of independent production companies and can’t wait to see what their next commissions will be.”

BBC Worldwide has obtained exclusive rights to distribute Kalel’s finished programmes and formats internationally.