Channel 4.0 unveils summer slate of fresh and returning projects

Broadcast Digital Award-winning After Party Studios are among the companies to have secured Channel 4.0 commissions, as part of the digital strand’s summer slate.

After Party, which last week won the Multichannel Production Company of the Year gong at last week’s Digital Awards, is behind 6 x 20-minute series Are They A Keeper?, while the outfit has also landed 20 further episodes of format strand Savage Sundays.

Cowshed Collective has also won a fresh order from C4.0, while Welsh indies Crash Productions and Nimble Productions have landed recommissions on the youth brand slate, which also emerged victorious at the Broadcast Digital Awards, scooping Best Entertainment Channel.

After Party’s Are They a Keeper? sees presenter Nella Rose becomes agony aunt to people who can’t trust their own judgement when it comes to love. She will date the person’s partner or situationship to help identify the problem and then deliver her opinion to the jaded lover seeking help in her characteristic unfiltered style.

Are They A Keeper? is exec produced by Jamie MacDonald and Sam Ewen, with series producer Abi Adetoye.

C4 has also commissioned 20 further episodes of After Party’s innovation strand Savage Sundays, a weekly video format testing ground hosted on C4.0’s YouTube and social media platform. The 20-ep run will see the return of popular segments Find the… and Cooked, alongside newly created Career Report, an interview format in which a savage kid armed with a dossier takes a deep dive into the career of a celebrity.

MacDonald and Ewen exec produce Savage Sundays alongside Trent Williams-Jones, with Aisha Barratt series producing.

Cowshed Collective’s The Chosen One is an adaptation of their existing C4.0 format The Intern, which had aspiring creators interview with four of C4.0’s famous faces for a unique chance to work on a production shoot.

The new 6 x 20-minute series sees a celebrity from music, comedy, sport or other creative mediums interview 20 amateurs alongside a panel of C4.0 creators – Harry Pinero, Darkest Man and Nella Rose – to help find the next upcoming star.

They will whittle down each of the hopefuls, with the famous specialist then deciding on just one candidate to endorse as a talent to watch. The stars featuring this series include pop star and former Little Mix member Leigh-Anne and rapper Headie One. The Chosen One is exec produced by Ryan O’Shea and George Cowin and directed by Chris Goodson.

The Chosen One, Are They a Keeper? and Savage Sundays were commissioned by Kaio Grizzelle, digital commissioning editor and interim C4.0 commissioning lead. Laura Marks is the head of digital commissioning for C4.

Following successful pilots, Welsh indies Nimble and Crash have each landed orders for more episodes of their shows Kids Table and Dating Dad, supported by Media Cymru via 4Skills.

Nimble’s Kids Table returns for 2 x 20-minute eps, in which creators Whitney Adebayo and Konan take on an auntie from their same heritage in a cultural cooking showdown, which will be overseen by the brutally honest teens from popular C4.0 format Minor Issues. Abi Adetoye produces, with Gareth Thomas exec producing

In a similar 2 x 20-minute order, Crash will produce Dating Dad, where hopeful singles and social media stars Max Khadar and Brazavilleee must first get to know and impress the fathers of their prospective dates. Over a series of rounds, they must question, date and eliminate the fathers one by one until they find their final romantic match. Dating Dad is exec produced by Christie Toal, with Sapphire Dew producing/directing.

Kids Table and Dating Dad were commissioned for C4.0 by Catriona White, digital commissioning editor.

Grizzelle said: “Viewers will be excited to see the familiar C4.0 faces at their best but getting up to new antics. We continue to build out a portfolio of iconic programmes the fans adore with some amazing indies making noisy and high-quality content in the digital space.”

White added: “It’s a privilege to work with such creative production companies for Channel 4.0 and continue to bring new shows to our growing audience.”

The summer slate will premiere from mid-July on Channel 4.0 YouTube and social media platforms.