Film4
Film4
Film4
Film4 is home to two departments, each with a different purpose. One is the UK’s most-watched film channel with a diverse and innovative schedule of films. The other is Channel 4 Television’s feature film division, Film4 productions. Both play a key role in bringing our public service remit to life – whether it’s on the big or small screen.
Film4 Productions has developed and co-financed many of the most successful UK films of recent years, Academy Award®-winners such as Florian Zeller’s The Father, Yorgos Lanthimos’s The Favourite, Martin McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Lenny Abrahamson’s Room, Alex Garland’s Ex Machina, Asif Kapadia’s box office record breaking documentary Amy, Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave and Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, in addition to critically-acclaimed award-winners such as Sarah Gavron’s Rocks, Rose Glass’s Saint Maud, Pawel Pawlikowski’s Cold War, Lynne Rams
Communications
Communications
Communications
Driving viewers to watch Channel 4’s programmes; stimulating debate around our content; developing and protecting the reputation of the Channel 4 brand; making our presenters and the next generation of on- and off-screen talent known across the UK; amplifying the innovative work of our sales, commercial and marketing teams; creating industry-leading events… these are just a few of the key roles that the Communications team plays at Channel 4.
We generate and shape coverage for Channel 4’s content, our talent and executives, our corporate reputation and performance, as well as our corporate/commercial initiatives and partnerships, in all external media – including digital media, newspapers, TV and radio, magazines and specialist ‘trade’ media.
We smash silos, working closely with our colleagues right across the whole business to make sure that we have the biggest and most impactful campaigns possible.
Marketing and Viewer Experience
Marketing and Viewer Experience
Marketing and Viewer Experience
Marketing and Viewer Experience is responsible for leading a coherent brand strategy for our network of channels and services including Channel 4, E4, Film4, More4 and Channel 4 streaming; prioritising, planning and implementing all of Channel 4’s marketing campaigns using a mixture of paid (e.g. digital, social media, posters, radio, print) and owned media (our own airtime and instream on Channel 4)
The Marketing and Viewer Experience department also comprises the Media Planning and Continuity Teams. The marketing function sits within the wider Marketing, Creative and Digital Group which includes 4creative and 4Studio.
Commissioning
Commissioning
Commissioning
Our content is the key to Channel 4’s success.
As a publisher broadcaster we don’t produce content in-house, we commission it – helping independent production companies across the UK grow and nurturing new and existing talent. 100% of our UK programmes are commissioned from UK production companies.
Our Commissioning Teams are split into genres and work with producers to develop and deliver outstanding award-winning content.
Comedy is one of our key commissioning areas. It’s a genre for which we’ve always been renowned. The brief here is wide-ranging to reflect our diverse audience but, in general, the focus is on all scripted comedy for Channel 4 and E4. Recent critical successes have included: Catastrophe, Flowers, Chewing Gum, The Windsors, Drifters, Man Down, Ballot Monkeys and Friday Night Dinner.
4creative
4creative
4creative
Clear. Distinctive. Engaging. Imaginative. This is how we always aim to project our voice and remain true to our values. 4creative is our in-house agency that translates this goal into award-winning output.
4creative forms a core part of our Marketing and Communications division. About 40 people work here, writing and producing risky, innovative and culturally relevant materials for Channel 4 brands and services. It’s home to creatives, directors, producers, designers, business directors and a host of other people. Together with Marketing, they are our brand guardians.
Acquisitions
Acquisitions
Acquisitions
As well as commissioning our own programmes, we search high and low for the best programmes and films in the world to complement them. Our Acquisitions Team supports us on this by managing all aspects of this complex process.
Acquisitions buy and manage all US drama, comedy and non-scripted series for Channel 4, More 4, E4 and Channel 4 streaming. It’s thanks to them that we’ve aired runaway success stories from Will & Grace and Sex & The City, to The Simpsons and South Park.
The key roles in this department include Business Affairs Manager, Assistant Rights Manager, Acquisitions Managers and Acquisitions Executive. Together, they ensure we have a rich diversity of programmes to keep our audience engaged, challenged and entertained, as well as helping to ensure commercial success.
Strategy & Corporate Relations
Strategy & Corporate Relations
Strategy & Corporate Relations
The whole reason C4 exists is to challenge, entertain, educate and surprise our audience. This means we need to know who they are, how they think and what interests them. Our Strategy team makes sure we have this information at our fingertips to inform our creative output and underpin our commercial sustainability.
We are also a public service broadcaster with a wide-ranging remit to fulfil. This means we have close working relationships with Government, Parliament, regulators and numerous stakeholders, both political and corporate. These relationships are managed by Corporate Relations.
Strategy
Where should we go next? How can we get there? Which is the better path? What are the likely obstacles we’ll encounter? Who needs to do what? Strategy answers the big questions we ask ourselves as an organisation and shows us the way.
Commercial Affairs
Commercial Affairs
Commercial Affairs
If there are ‘i’s to be dotted and ‘t’s to be crossed, Commercial Affairs is here to do it. In triplicate. Anything concerning Business Affairs, Production Finance and Legal is dealt with here, whether that’s negotiating contracts or dealing with the small print side of commissions.
Commercial Affairs
Commercial Affairs is big on detail where it matters. It’s here to make sure everything we do, or is done in our name is done properly. This means supporting our subsidiaries and joint ventures, as well as the main channel.
Content Management
Content Management
Content Management
Thanks to Content Management there is always something to see and our viewers know where they can see it. It’s a business-critical department that fulfils a fundamental role. Without it, our portfolio of programmes wouldn’t transmit, screens would be blank and listings would be empty.
Content is full of opportunities. Lean and focused, it operates in a fast-paced environment where anything can happen. And when it does, it responds with speed, agility and accuracy. It collaborates with a wide range of partners, including commissioning and channel management to Ericsson Broadcast Media Services (BMS) and production companies. It’s responsible for supporting content delivery across all scheduled and on-demand services, as well as our listings. This is how the department breaks down:
Channel 4 Ventures
Channel 4 Ventures
Channel 4 Ventures
We are an investment team within Channel 4, specialising in media for equity – where high growth, unprofitable start-ups exchange their shares (‘equity’) for Channel 4 advertising space.
We exist because many high-growth consumer businesses reach a point where their need to scale cannot be matched by the resources or capital available to them.
With its unrivalled reach and high levels of trust, TV remains the best marketing channel for making companies well known by the general public - but many companies can’t commit to spending cash on a TV brand-building campaign.