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BBC Studios signs up comedy duo

Jonny Sweet and Simon Bird in 2013 Sky sitcom Chickens

BBC Studios has signed a development, production and distribution partnership with comedy talent Simon Bird (The Inbetweeners, Friday Night Dinner) and Jonny Sweet (Chickens, Together).

The deal will see the commercial arm of the BBC take global rights to all new scripted television programmes co-developed, coproduced and commissioned from BBC Studios Productions and People Person Pictures.

The latter is the fledgling company formed by actor, director and comedian Bird and Edinburgh Comedy award-winner Sweet.

The two previously set up Guilty Party Pictures, alongside The Inbetweeners producer Spencer Millman, with backing from StudioCanal in 2015.

Recent BBC Studios Productions titles include Inside No. 9, This Country, Trying, Good Omens for Amazon, Ladhood, Famalam, Two Doors Down and Brain in Gear.

Josh Cole, head of comedy at BBC Studios Production, said: “We are long-time admirers of Simon and Jonny’s work – they are not only exceptionally gifted writers and performers but also producers, working closely with the industry’s most exciting, emerging comic talent.”

Jonathan Blyth, director of comedy at BBC Studios Content Partnerships, added: “There is strong international appetite for Simon and Jonny’s warm and irreverent brand of comedy.”

Bird and Sweet said in a joint statement: “BBC Studios has been the beating heart of British comedy for decades and we’re humbled to be joining its ranks. We look forward to continuing the work we started at Guilty Party Pictures, putting writers and comedians at the centre of the production process, to create inventive, diverse, high-quality television.”

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