James Donkin, a former Head of Development at Tuesday’s Child, is returning to the non-scripted specialists to launch a format-focussed label, Curious Cat.

Donkin, who was most recently Director of Development at Expectation, has already started working on the joint venture with Karen Smith, CEO of Tuesday’s Child, with the aim of “creating attention-grabbing unscripted formats in ents, reality, games, factual and comedy – a televisual party everyone wants to be at”.

A seasoned entertainment specialist, Donkin has previously worked at Renegade Pictures as head of development; held senior development roles at Gogglebox Entertainment (now Primal Media) and Zodiak, working on new formats for their production companies across Europe; and has also worked in production as an Exec/Series Producer on a variety of shows.

He has been involved in developing hundreds of hours of household favourites including In With A Shout (ITV1 / M6), The Hit List (BBC One), Extraordinary Escapes (C4), Head-Hunters (BBC One), Guessable (Comedy Central), Killer Camp (ITV2 / The CW), and the RTS-Award winning Release the Hounds (ITV2 / FOX). 

The home of multiple international hit formats and award-winning entertainment shows including Lego Masters, The Fortune Hotel, The Hit List and Extraordinary Escapes, Tuesday’s Child already houses and part-owns David Williams and Jamie Ormerod outfit, Interstellar TV; the team behind U&Dave’s Battle in the Box and Question Team and the Co-Op branded Channel 4 series Celebrity Send Off.

Donkin said: “I’m delighted to be returning to Tuesday’s Child with the launch of our new label Curious Cat. Karen [Smith] and Steph [Harris] have built such an impressive and formidable business; there’s a wonderful alchemy here unlike anywhere else, and it’s the perfect fit for the mischievous, noisy formats Curious Cat has up its sleeves.

  “I’ve always believed that the best stories come from a place of curiosity and exploration and through Curious Cat we want to push the boundaries and tell those stories in a truly original way, with fresh new formats that captivate the UK and international market. Curious Cat is creatively adventurous, commercially ambitious, and hungry for the next big hit.”

Smith added: “We’re very excited to welcome James back to the Tuesday’s Child family with his new venture, Curious Cat. His creativity and energy are second to none and with the production backing of the Tuesday’s Child teams in London, Scotland and Wales, plus our strong international relationships, his formats will fly.”

Expectation exec sets up Tuesday’s Child label | News | Broadcast (broadcastnow.co.uk)