Connected Set feels Studio71’s Payne

UK indie The Connected Set has hired the director of content at Red Arrow Studios-owned Studio71 to help expand its shortform production activities and TV slate.

Tom Payne

Tom Payne joined the youth-focused firm this week as an executive producer, having been at Studio71 since 2018.

At Studio71, Payne oversaw shortform productions including Trip Hazard: My Great British Adventure for Channel 4, Fully Blown and The Main Part for the BBC, and two seasons of Forged With Steele for A+E.

Prior to joining Studio71, Payne spent several years at Spirit Studios, producing and directing digital projects for broadcasters and brands.

The Connected Set has been behind series including BBC3’s Face the Consequences as well as documentaries with presenters Stacey Dooley and Ellie Flynn. It is also behind the YouTube gaming channel Mashed for Channel 4, which has two million subscribers.

The company is currently working on content for the forthcoming Teens strand that will be available across E4’s social platforms, as well as several new productions for Channel 4 and E4’s TikTok channels and for BBC Education, alongside a number of linear projects.

The Connected Set’s creative director, Jason Mitchell, said: “Tom’s consistent track record of delivering both digital and linear projects with exceptional production values makes him a perfect fit for our company.

“The last 12 months has seen digital-first production booming and Tom joins at an exciting time as we grow our revenues across a wide variety of social platforms and look to expand this IP into longform.”