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Tv/Film Production Creative Tom Bazeley

M&C Saatchi’s former CEO Tom Bazeley resurfaces at Hoot Comedy

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By Jessica Goodfellow, Media Reporter

April 13, 2017 | 3 min read

Tom Bazeley, former chief executive of M&C Saatchi, is rejoining the world of production and IP to become chief executive of Hoot Comedy, a comedy production company he helped set up five years ago,

From left to right: James Rawlings, Tom Bazeley, Ben Thompson and Ben Bond

From left to right: James Rawlings, Tom Bazeley, Ben Thompson and Ben Bond

He will rejoin Hoot Comedy this month.

Hoot Comedy was founded in 2012 by comedian James Rawlings, screenwriter Ben Bond and producer Ben Thompson.

The company splits its time between creating content and advertising for brands and agencies, and creating original content for broadcast, film and syndication. Hoot Comedy creates advertising content for brands including Dave, Danone, Asda, Camelot and Paddy Power.

Hoot Comedy also operates as an independent production company for broadcast TV in scripted drama, comedy and kids animation with major projects in the pipeline for the BBC and eONE. It has a feature film division, Bad Owl Films, with projects due to be announced this month for Creative England, the BFI, and BBC Films.

Bazeley helped launch the company in 2012 with a cash investment, premises and a place on the board, but later had to sell his interest when Lean Mean Fighting Machine - a company he co-founded in 2004 alongside Dave Cox, Dave Bedwood and Sam Ball - was sold to M&C Saatchi.

He said: "After a couple of years running M&C Saatchi, I could do with a bit of a laugh. Hoot’s natural inclination is to avoid overthinking things….put simply, our hunch is that we buy from people we like, and humour is the easiest and fastest way to get there. It’s a simple sell to agency folk, marketing directors and makes coming to work in the morning very enjoyable."

James Rawlings, co-founder added: "In truth, Tom isn’t that funny but he’s really good at other things; wake-boarding, accents, wearing brightly coloured clothing and running businesses. These were all criteria for our new hire."

Tv/Film Production Creative Tom Bazeley

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