Two British execs who have worked for Monkey Kingdom and Talkback have joined forces to launch an LA-based indie backed by BBC Studios.
Ollie Brack and James Longman have set up Jolly Octopus Media, which will develop international entertainment formats.
The pair met at MTV in 2001 and both went on to work at Talkback – Longman as series producer of Never Mind the Buzzcocks and The Rob Brydon Show and latterly as head of programmes, and Brack as an executive producer.
Brack went on to spend 11 years at Monkey Kingdom, co-creating, selling and overseeing shows such as The Question Jury, Don’t Hate the Playaz and The Emily Atack Show and launching the indie’s US office in 2020.
Longman has been in the US since 2015, executive producing Fulwell 73’s The Late Late Show with James Corden and Friends: the Reunion.
In a statement, Brack and Longman said Jolly Octopus is “something very special to us and we’re thrilled to be launching in partnership with BBC Studios to make joyful, entertainment formats with our colleagues and partners in London and Los Angeles.
“We have always believed TV has a big part to play in people’s lives and we have big ambitions to build a production studio with a creative-first culture that producers, talent and partners want to work with and bring their creativity to.”
