Whisper names second production chief

Sony-backed sports and unscripted UK producer Whisper has promoted exec Kaz Cranston to be its second head of production.

Kaz Cranston

Cranston is stepping up to work alongside Whisper’s current incumbent, Karen Knowles. Cranston joined Whisper in 2019 as a production executive.

Whisper has created the new role to help manage the increasing workload caused by the continuing growth of Whisper’s unscripted division, along with its recent investment in Partner Moonshine Features.

Knowles will continue to look after all of Whisper’s sport-focused productions, which currently includes Formula 1, NFL, International Cricket, WSL and The Paralympics, along with branded entertainment.

Cranston will manage Whisper’s growing unscripted slate, plus the productions of Whisper’s Partners East Media and Moonshine Features.

Karen Knowles

Moonshine recently delivered No Masks, featuring Russell Tovey, to Sky Arts, while Whisper has delivered Inside Monaco to BBC2, The Talk to Channel 4, Sing it Loud: Black & Proud to Channel 4 and The Feud: Mourinho vs Pep to Channel 5, amongst other shows.

Sunil Patel, Whisper’s CEO, said: “Kaz’s knowledge and experience across a wealth of genres absolutely fits who we are and where we are going and we’re really pleased she’s accepted this next step. We aim, as part of our growth, to nurture and develop talent from within and it’s great to see that in action.

“Sports and immersive sports broadcasting remain at our heart, yet we are also focused on other ambitions in unscripted and beyond, and this new structure, with both Karen and Kaz, can help us to realise those.”

Whisper will also be recruiting a new production executive shortly.