Meet The Commissioner

Next Session: RICHARD KLEIN, CONTROLLER, BBC 4

Date: Tuesday 23 March 2010
Time: 14.00 - 16.00 (Followed by a limited number of 1-2-1's)
Venue: The Round Foundry Media Centre, Water Lane, Leeds, LS11 5QP (Map) 

Places at this event are free, but are limited. To register, click here.

(A confirmation email including any final information will be issued to all attendees in the week before the event. 1-2-1 slots will be allocated on the day).

RICHARD KLEIN became the Controller of BBC Four in December 2008.

For the year leading up to this, Richard was the BBC's Head of Independent Commissioning, Knowledge. In this role he oversaw all commissioning from independent production companies across Features, Arts, Music, Religion, Specialist Factual and Documentaries.

Richard joined the BBC in 1996 as a series producer and moved into commissioning to become a commissioning executive. From there he became a senior commissioning executive and then the Commissioning Editor for Documentaries in March 2005.

He has been responsible for commissioning programmes including: The White Season, Stephen Fry: The Secret Life Of The Manic Depressive, Wonderland, Amazon and The Fallen for BBC Two; The Childhood Season, Bulgaria's Abandoned Children, National Trust and Travellers' Century for BBC Four; Mountain, Britain From Above and Heart of Thomas Hardy for BBC One; Blood Sweat and T-shirts, Filthy Rich And Homeless and Mischief for BBC Four. He has commissioned factual dramas for BBC Two including Man On Wire, Maxwell, The Thieving Headmistress, Sex, The City and Me. Richard has also taken an innovative approach to multiplatform, with rich online offerings for Britain From Above, Amazon and The Long Way Down.

Richard has commissioned and executive produced a number of award-winning shows, including four BAFTAS for Best Documentary and Best Documentary Series (Orphans Of Nkandla, The Choir, Evicted and National Trust), six Royal Television Society Awards for Best Documentary, four Griersons, and three One World Awards. Maxwell has just won an International Emmy for David Suchet's performance in the lead role.

Richard went to Aberdeen University where he gained a MA in English Literature. He then started working for local newspapers in London.

After three years in newspapers, he spent three years at London Weekend Television as researcher, reporter and then director on Weekend World, followed by Eyewitness. He then worked as a director for a wide range of broadcasters including the BBC, Channel 4, ITV and Romanian TV, directing feature-length, magazine shows, strands, documentaries and current affairs.

Places as this event are free but are limited. To register, click here.

Previous MEET THE COMMISSIONER sessions have included:

Spring 2009
Meet the Media Lawyers - Lee & Priestly
Meet the Media Consultants - Rights.tv
Meet the Distributor - All3Media International

Autumn 2008 
Kate Bradshaw, Head of Online, ITV.com
Joff Powell, Commissioning Development Producer for UKTV
Jo Clinton-Davis, Controller of Popular, ITV

Spring 2008 
Steve Gowans, Controller for factual entertainment Channel Five
Sumi Connock, Daytime and Out of London, BBC
Rebecca Johnson, Virgin 1, Bravo, Challenge, Trouble
Emma Read, Specialist Factual, SkyOne

Autumn 2007
Meet Channel 4, Stuart Cosgrove, Kevin Sutcliffe (News/Current Affairs), Ruby Kuraishe (Fact Ent/E4)
Emma Somerville, Head of Platform Portfolio, BBC
Richard Adams, Digital Strategy Director, Chemistry Group
Adam Perry, Head of Programmes and Campaigns, The Community Channel
Claire Zolkwer & Emma Tennant, ITV Digital

Spring 2007
Aaqil Ahmed, Commissioning Editor, Channel 4 Religion,
Martin Morgan, Deputy Channel Director and Exe Producer for the History Channel, Biography Channel and Crime Investigation Network.
Clare Hollywood, Commissioning Editor, Living TV
Katherine Pearson, Commissioning Exec for Lifestyle, UKTV
Kim Peat, Controller of Daytime, Arts and Religion, Five