Keo expands top team

UK indie producer Keo Films has appointed a new head of popular factual and features to its senior management team.

Paula Trafford was previously MD of another indie, Manchester-based Scarlet Television, which went into administration in February.

Trafford will work closely with creative director Andrew Palmer on Keo’s factual output, which includes programmes such as River Cottage, Hugh’s Fish Fight and Welcome to Lagos. The latter won the Royal Television Society’s (RTS) best documentary series award this year.

At Scarlet, Trafford was responsible for shows including Delia Through the Decades and When a Mother’s Love is Not Enough, which were screened on BBC2 and BBC1 respectively.

When the administrators were called in, Scarlet was said to owe freelancers up to £150,000 (US$248,600) for work on the Delia programme, plus £50,000 to television chef Delia Smith herself.

Prior to Scarlet, Trafford was MD of Planet Wild Productions, where she produced John Lennon Night for Channel 4 and Diana: My Sister The Princess for BBC1, for which she won an RTS award for best factual programme. Trafford most recently executive-produced Betty TV’s Joy of Teen Sex for Channel 4.

Trafford sad: “Keo has a unique reputation for diverse and entertaining programming.”