Sister act at Sunburnt Penguin as Clelia Mountford, Saskia Schuster team up
Left to right: Ye-Ye Fadaka, Clelia Mountford, Saskia Schuster
Clelia Mountford’s scripted production company Sunburnt Penguin has appointed former ITV and Sky commissioner Saskia Schuster as executive producer.
The appointment brings Mountford and Schuster, who are sisters, together at the All3Media-backed label.
Schuster will build a slate of comedies and dramas at the company and work with founder Mountford on a range of projects currently in various stages of funded development.
London-based Sunburnt Penguin was set up by Mountford within All3Media in late 2024 after she left Bad Sisters producer Merman, the company she launched with Sharon Horgan in 2014.
Prior to joining Sunburnt Penguin, Schuster was head of scripted at Fulwell 73, where she established its scripted department and developed a slate of drama and comedy projects.
As head of comedy and comedy drama at ITV, Schuster was responsible for commissioning shows including Plebs, Timewasters, Benidorm, Don’t Hate the Playaz, Birds of a Feather and Vicious.
During her time at ITV, Schuster founded gender equality and new talent initiative Comedy 50:50.
Schuster’s commissioning credits at Sky include Yonderland, Psychobitches, A Young Doctor’s Notebook, Little Crackers, Walking the Dogs, Nellie & Melba, City Hall and Nixon’s the One.
As a producer, Schuster worked on season three of The Armstrong & Miller Show, The Armstrong & Miller Live Tour and coproduced Felix & Murdo while at Toff Media.
In addition, as head of development at Objective, she worked on comedy titles including Peep Show, Fresh Meat, Star Stories and Pete Vs Life.
Completing the Sunburnt Penguin team is creative assistant Ye-Ye Fadaka, who joined in early 2025. Fadaka supports the team editorially and collaborates with writers to bring projects onto the development slate. Her role involves contributing to the development process to help shape new content.
Prior to joining Sunburnt Penguin, Fadaka was an assistant at Tiger Aspect and Banijay’s creative networks team.
Multi-BAFTA award winner Mountford said: “Saskia has fantastic broadcast commissioning experience, as well as years of production expertise with iconic, popular and genre-defying programming credits under her belt.
“She is full of brilliant, creative ideas, but is also disciplined and strategic in her approach. She is a passionate mentor to new and emerging talent, as evidenced in her work as founder of Comedy 50:50. I am beyond delighted Saskia has joined Sunburnt Penguin. And to top it all, she’s my sister.”
Schuster said: “Growing up, we were obsessed with stories and put on endless productions in the back garden to the bemusement of our neighbours.
“Now I get to work with Clelia and I’m excited we can continue our shared passion for scripted content. Sunburnt Penguin embodies Clelia’s vision for outstanding scripted programmes, beautifully executed with wit and heart.
“I am looking forward to working with emerging talent, as well as some of the most established names in the industry to build my own slate and collaborate on existing projects.”
