Paul Heaney’s BossaNova adds Claire Runham as head of acquisitions

Funding and distribution specialist BossaNova Media has named Claire Runham as its head of acquisitions, reuniting her with numerous former colleagues at TCB Media Rights.

Claire Runham

Runham comes to Paul Heaney’s BossaNova from Beyond Rights, which acquired Heaney’s TCB Media Rights in April 2020, following the collapse of the Kew Media Group.

In her new role, she will spearhead the curation and development of BossaNova’s growing slate of collaborative projects, crafting and developing editorial in partnership with producers and supporting the sales team.

Runham’s appointment sees her reunited with other original team members from TCB, including BossaNova’s head of sales Holly Cowdery, commercial and business affairs director Claire Lowe, finance and operations director Charlotte Johnson and marketing manager Jasmin Joseph.

Joseph will also expand her role to marketing and acquisitions manager, lending support to Runham’s department and sharing marketing intelligence with the producer community.

At Beyond Rights, which was acquired by Banijay Group in December 2022, Runham served as senior VP of acquisitions and coproductions. This was preceded by a five-year stint as an acquisitions executive with Heaney’s team at TCB, before which she worked as a development and production co-ordinator at National Geographic Channels. She has also worked at the BBC, the London Film Academy and Dragonfly Film & Television in a variety of research, marketing and talent-management roles.

BossaNova founder and CEO Paul Heaney said: “It’s not just a delight for almost the whole BossaNova team to be starting to work with Claire again but it’s a benefit to the production community that cannot be understated.”

Runham added: “When Paul asked me to head up BossaNova’s acquisitions, I didn’t hesitate – and not just because being reunited with my ‘TCB family’ is an irresistible prospect. BossaNova is at a fascinating moment in its life cycle, moving from a start-up to a scale-up in a content market that is transforming by the day. Helping to drive the company into its next phase of development is also an irresistible professional challenge.”