Objective adds Zeppotron co-founder

All3Media-owned Objective Productions has appointed a new head of comedy to replace the outgoing Ben Farrell.

Ben Caudell, co-founder and creative director at Endemol-owned prodco Zeppotron, is being brought onboard to oversee Objective’s new projects and executive produce the company’s scripted comedy slate.

Caudell founded Zeppotron along with journalist and writer Charlie Brooker in 2000 and oversaw output that included Channel 4 hits Black Mirror and 8 Out Of 10 Cats. The company was fully bought out by Endemol in 2002.

He replaces Ben Farrell, who left last month to be an executive producer at the BBC’s in-house comedy unit, and join Objective later this year, reporting to CEO Andrew Newman.

Caudell said: “It’s been 14 years since I co-founded Zeppotron and I’ve had an amazing time there, working with the most wonderful people in the world. So it was an incredibly hard decision to leave and only this job could ever have tempted me.

“Objective has produced some of the best scripted comedy of the last decade and, as a consummate TV professional, I couldn’t turn down this opportunity to hang on the coattails of someone else’s success and take credit for something I had nothing to do with. Also, now I can walk to work.”