Paul Murray appointed as creative director at Matchlight after 'major' DCD Media investment
Paul Murray, creator of Location, Location, Location and Antiques Road Trip, has been appointed to the newly created position of creative director, new markets at Matchlight after a major investment by DCD Media in its Glasgow team.
Appointment: Paul Murray will take up a creative director role
The independent producer made the appointment following the BBC and Channel 4’s announcement in July that the broadcasters will source more content from Scotland’s independent production sector.
Murray was previous the head of Objective Scotland and will work alongside Matchlight’s creative director Ross Wilson and head of development Jacqui Hayden to focus on winning commissions in feature, daytime and factual entertainment.
David Craven, CEO of DCD Media, which distributes Matchlight’s output, said: “This is a significant move for Matchlight, a company that has built a strong reputation in factual television in just over four years.
“It is timely for the DCD Media group to support the producer’s expansion with targeted investment to enable Matchlight to capitalise on its solid foundations and capture a larger share of the out-of-London market as new opportunities arise.”
The amount of investment from DCD Media has not been released but a spokesman said the money will be targeted at supporting and expanding the production infrastructure and creative team to support the company’s growth as new out-of-London market opportunities arise.
David Smith, Matchlight’s managing director, added: “Both the BBC and Channel 4 have asked for more returning series from Scotland, Matchlight has moved quickly to answer that demand.
“We aim to double our turnover in the next three years, winning more commissions in our existing areas of strength as well as developing new markets for our programmes.”
Recent productions from Matchlight include Scottish BAFTA-winning Afghanistan, The Great Game; BBC Three’s Russell Brand: From Addiction to Recovery; and Channel 4’s Dispatches: The Truth About Junior Doctors.