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The Cats

Ed Stobart - Managing Director

The former head of Ginger Productions in London, Ed is a multi award winning producer and director who has delivered successful, high quality series and films for all the UK’s major terrestrial and digital broadcasters. Among his many credits, Ed Stobart created and executive produced ITV’s Jack Osbourne Adrenaline Junkie, which sold to 146 territories around the world, executive produced the award winning Cannibals and Crampons, the prototype for BBC Tribe, and developed Discovery’s Walking The Amazon. In documentary features, Ed exec produced Pink Saris, which was BAFTA and Grierson nominated, and winner of the Prix Europa & Sheffield Documentary Festival, and How To Defuse A Bomb, which won the Irish Film Institute Festival. He series produced Channel 4’s Grand Designs & Channel 5’s House Doctor. Ed executive produces/ Co executive produces all the Alleycats content.

Des Henderson - Creative Director/Executive Producer

Des is a multi-award winning executive producer and director and has worked on the vast bulk of the Alleycats output in both capacities. Award-winning/nominated credits include: BBC1 / BBC4 How to Defuse a Bomb: (Irish Film Institute winner and RTS nominated), My Wig and Me (RTS nominated) BBC1 World’s Oldest Family (RTS nominated), BBC1 NI/ RTE Keepin’ ‘Er Country (Celtic Media Festival Winner, RTS twice nominated) BBC1 NI/ RTE Life Patrol: On The Banks of The Foyle (Radharc Award runner up), RTE Pulling With My Parents (RTS Winner, C21 IFA Nominated Best Multi-Platform Format). As well as being at the cutting edge of high-end documentary, Des has a huge strength in popular factual and formats – he developed, series produced and directed RTE series The Borrowers, bringing the fixed rig into loan offices.

Emma Parkins - Creative Director/Executive Producer

Emma is a programme maker and Executive Producer specialising in global factual content for TV and digital. She joined an expanding Alleycats in 2017. In her 15 year career, Emma has originated/co-originated and delivered a wide-ranging slate including BBC WW’s pop science You Tube channel Head Squeeze (now BBC Earth Online) and studio science-ent series Factomania, Smithsonian’s new docu-drama brand Make it Out Alive, Discovery/BBC Two’s inventive animation series James May’s Things You Need to Know, BBC Four’s returning flagship Digging for Britain, C5’s Hero in My Family and NatGeo’s Making History. She began her career in the BBC documentary unit, making observational series like BBC ONE’s Children’s Hospital. At Alleycats Emma’s focus is on developing returning brands and specials that combine great storytelling and visuals with access and emotion, to create new and compelling ways of experiencing the world.

Judy Wilson - Head of Production

An elder stateswoman of production, Judy has worked in Production Management for nearly 25 years. She has worked on everything from Drama; Reality TV; Commercials and Unscripted. She joined the Alleycats team in 2013 as a freelancer and quickly became embedded in the work we do. Since joining she has managed several multi-episode series; single feature documentaries and an ad-funded campaign for Channel 4 that saw 4 strangers head off halfway around the world for a pint as well as flying a golden camper-van under a gas balloon. Most recently she has taken on the challenge of managing our break out hit The Fast and The Farmer-ish for BBC 3 which sees teams of 3 from across the UK descend on Northern Ireland to compete in fuel-filled tractor challenges to be crowned UK champions. Requiring upwards of 40 crew and cast on location for this production, managing that series is no mean feat. She has managed productions for all the major broadcasters and also for International channels from BBC; RTÉ; Arte; Discovery and Channel 4 there is not much she doesn’t know about delivering successful series locally and internationally. In addition to our fact ent offering, she has also managed our documentaries with more sensitive content from Project Children to Unspoken to Lost Boys and does so with the same attention to detail and with the welfare of the contributors at the forefront of her mind.

Will Skidmore - Business Affairs Manager

Will takes care of the business affairs, day to day finances, and anything else in between in the London development office. An Alleycat since 2011 and recent graduate of the NFTS in Production Accounting, he has worked on all of Alleycats’ output to date, and in between tax credits and trips to Kyrgyzstan, is slowly learning French in his spare time.

Kate McGlade - Development Executive

Kate recently joined the Alleycats team as a Development Executive after 18 years in London working in development and production at some of the biggest indies in the UK (BBC Studios, Endemol Shine, Optomen, Renegade, Youngest Media). Kate has originated/co-originated a slate of Fact Ent formats and returning series including Mary Queen of Charity Shops (BBC2), Filth(RTL2), Bodyshockers(Channel4) and Your Home Made Perfect(BBC2) and most recently secured the first-ever original series to be commissioned by TikTok in the UK. Among her many programme making credits Kate has produced and directed on network series including The Apprentice(BBC1), Bodyshockers(C4), Secret Eaters(C4), Mary Portas Secret Shopper(C4) and Gok at the Races(C4). Now back home Kate’s goal is to develop returning series in the Factual Entertainment and Popular Factual space from Northern Ireland to be made in Northern Ireland. When she’s not boring her friends with TV chat or running after her children Kate can be found in the forest, at the beach and sometimes on the football pitch.

Denis Minihan - Series Producer/Director

Denis has been writing, producing and directing across a wide range of specialist factual series over the last decade – archaeology projects like Digging For Britain (BBC) & Ireland’s Greatest Treasures (BBC), big history such as Egypt’s Unexplained Files (Discovery) & Rome: The World’s First Superpower (C5), BBC archive led shows A Timewatch Guide: Vikings, A Timewatch Guide: Russia & Art on the BBC: Monet and international productions Make it Out Alive! & Inside Mighty Machines for Smithsonian. Most recently he has been Producer on the much lauded Alleycats series Raiders of the Lost Past with Janina Ramirez (BBC2). Outside of work Denis spends too much time and money on expanding a mountainous vinyl collection.

More Awards

• SHINE Mental Health AwardsWINNERS (Patrick: A Young Traveller Lost, Unspoken)x06 Awards
• Radharc AwardWINNERS (Patrick: A Young Traveller Lost)x01 Award
• Toronto Independent Film FestivalWINNERS (Lost Boys: Belfast’s Missing Children)x01 Award
• Disappear Here Film FestivalWINNERS (Lost Boys: Belfast’s Missing Children)x01 Award
• Edinburgh Film FestivalNOMINEE (Small Indie of The Year)x01 Award
• Royal Television SocietyWINNERS (Pulling With My Parents, The Fast & The Farmer-ish, Reporting History: Mandela and a New South Africa)x03 Awards
• Royal Television SocietyNOMINEES (How To Defuse A Bomb, Keepin’ ‘Er Country Single & Series, Unspoken, Pop, Pride & Prejudice, My Wig & Me, Tiananmen: The People Vs The Party)x07 Awards
• Irish Film InstituteWINNERS (The Fast & The Farmer-ish, How To Defuse A Bomb)x02 Awards
• North West Business AwardsWINNERS (Creative Industries Business of The Year)x02 Awards
• Arkhaois Film FestivalWINNERS (Lost Kingdom of the Black Pharoahs)x02 Awards
• Celtic Media FestivalWINNERS (Keepin’ ‘Er Country Single, Unspoken)x02 Awards
• Banff World Media FestivalNOMINEE (Rocky Award ‘Helluva Tour’)x01 Award