Philip Morrow

Last updated

Philip Morrow
Born (1962-05-23) May 23, 1962 (age 60)
Occupation television producer

Philip Morrow (born May 23, 1962) is a Northern Irish television producer. In 1999, he founded Wild Rover Productions, a television production company best known for producing the hidden-camera show Just for Laughs along with various entertainment, comedy, and pop-factual TV programmes. Morrow currently serves as the company's managing director. [1]

Morrow has held many positions within the United Kingdom television industry over the past twenty years. His first commission was from Channel 4 in 1990, to produce a one-off TV programme Viz - The Documentary. It told the story of Viz in a way that spoofed serious investigative TV shows such as Panorama or Dispatches .

He was head of comedy at Thames Television in the 1980s and 1990s. There, he wrote and produced Fluke – presented by Tim Vine on Channel 4 – a gameshow spoofing gameshows in which the contestants' success or failure was based on completely arbitrary and random rules. At Thames Television, he also produced the show Sugar and Spice for Five.

Morrow then served at the head of programmes for UTV (formerly Ulster Television). Projects he worked on included Emerald Shoes , a documentary on Irish dance for ITV, and Same Difference for Channel 4. He then served as executive producer of development at Mentorm Films, where shows included Space Precinct , [2] Today's the Day , Passport to the Sun , and Happy Families . Morrow next served as commissioning editor for entertainment at Channel 4, where his shows included Vic Reeves Big Night Out , Drop the Dead Donkey , Whose Line is it Anyway , and Tonight with Jonathan Ross .

In 2006, Morrow was elected to be the Northern Ireland PACT representative and on the board of Northern Ireland Screen. [3] [4] In this capacity, he has encouraged BBC's investment in "out of London" companies to offset the disadvantages associated with physical distance from United Kingdom commissioning centres. [5]

In 2009, Morrow began producing Secret Fortune, a Saturday night primetime gameshow for the BBC Lottery show. He also developed the format and structure of the show. [6]

On October 12, 2010, it was announced that Morrow's television show format Take the Money and Run received a six-episode order for show production by ABC with Jerry Bruckheimer as executive producer along with Amazing Race creators Bertram van Munster and Elise Doganieri. [7] [8] [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ITV (TV network)</span> TV network in the United Kingdom

ITV is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network. It was launched in 1955 as Independent Television to provide competition to BBC Television. ITV is the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990, its legal name has been Channel 3 to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time, BBC1, BBC2 and Channel 4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Northern Ireland</span> Main public service broadcaster in Northern Ireland

BBC Northern Ireland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Northern Ireland. It is widely available across both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BBC Television</span> Television service of the British Broacasting Corporation

BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated public television services in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 1932, although the start of its regular service of television broadcasts is dated to 2 November 1936.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Challenge (TV channel)</span> British television channel

Challenge is a British free-to-air television channel owned by Sky, a division of Comcast. The channel mostly transmits game shows from the UK and around the world, with some original productions.

ABC TV Plus is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and part of its ABC Television network. The channel broadcasts a range of general entertainment programming. Between the hours of 5am and 7.30pm daily, the channel's bandwidth is used for the ABC Kids channel for young children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teddington Studios</span> British television studio in Teddington, London

Teddington Studios was a large British television studio in Teddington, London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, providing studio facilities for programmes airing on the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5, Sky1 and others. The complex also provided studio space for channel continuity. The site was run by the Pinewood Studios Group.

<i>The Chasers War on Everything</i> Australian television satirical comedy series

The Chaser's War on Everything is an Australian television satirical comedy series broadcast on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) television station ABC1. It has won an Australian Film Institute Award for Best Television Comedy Series. The cast perform sketches mocking social and political issues, and often feature comedic publicity stunts. The series is produced by The Chaser, an Australian satirical group consisting of Chris Taylor, Julian Morrow, Craig Reucassel, Andrew Hansen, and Chas Licciardello. Fellow Chaser members Dominic Knight and Charles Firth are not part of the regular on-screen cast. However, Knight is a writer, and Firth compiled roving reports for the show from the United States, until he left the group to start a satirical newspaper in mid-2007.

ITV Play was a short-lived 24/7 participation television channel in the United Kingdom owned by ITV plc. The ITV Play name continued as a strand on the main ITV Network until December 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ITV Studios</span> Television production company

ITV Studios is a British multinational television production and distribution company owned by the British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadcasters, and is based in 12 countries across 60 production labels, with local production offices in the UK, US, Belgium, Australia, Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, Israel, France, Spain and Scandinavia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wild Rover Productions</span>

Wild Rover Productions is a television production company located in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It was started by Philip Morrow in 1999 and has since become one of the UK's most successful regionally based entertainment companies.

Oliver James Borg D'Anastasi, known as OJ Borg, is a British radio and television presenter employed by the BBC.

WildBrain Ltd. is a Canadian media, animation studio, production, and brand licensing company, mostly associated as an entertainment company. The company is known for owning the largest library of children's television programming, which is distributed through its multi-channel network, WildBrain Spark, and a group of Canadian specialty television channels.

RTÉ Television is a department of Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the Republic of Ireland's state controlled national broadcaster. Its first channel was Teilifís Éireann, which began broadcasting on 31 December 1961. Since the 1960s, RTÉ Television has added channels and digital television service.

<i>Just for Laughs</i> (British TV series) UK adaptation of a Canadian TV series

Just for Laughs UK is an adaptation of the Canadian series of the same name, that began in Montreal in late 2000. The hidden camera comedy show was broadcast on Saturday nights on BBC One. It was produced by Wild Rover Productions with Philip Morrow as producer. It started airing in 2003 and ran for five seasons, going off air in 2007. During its run, it was the only Saturday night entertainment show currently on BBC One to be produced by an independent television company based outside London.

wknd@stv was a short-lived children's programming strand on Scottish television channel, STV. The block aired on Saturdays and Sundays, usually starting at 9:25 am. It began on Saturday 17 January 2009 with a three-hour edition. The majority of editions were one to two hours in length.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Bruckheimer Films</span> American film production company

Jerry Bruckheimer Films Inc. (JBF) is an American independent film production company of Jerry Bruckheimer, formed in 1995, after cutting his ties with film producer Don Simpson, before his subsequent death in 1996. It produced hits such as the Pirates of the Caribbean film series.

<i>Take the Money and Run</i> (TV series)

Take the Money & Run is a reality game show that premiered on August 2, 2011 as part of the ABC network's 2011–12 primetime schedule. The series is unscripted and involves contestants trying to hide a briefcase filled with $100,000 from professional detectives and other investigators. The show takes place in various locales around the United States. The series ended with its sixth and final episode on September 6, 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Worthy</span>

Matthew Worthy is a British TV format creator and Executive Producer. He is also the Joint Managing Director of Stellify Media, alongside his creative and business partner, Kieran Doherty. Worthy & Doherty have co-created multiple entertainment formats - including the international formats Secret Fortune and Take The Money and Run - while working for UK independent production company Wild Rover Productions. In 2014 Worthy & Doherty launched the production company Stellify Media as a joint venture with Sony Pictures Television. Stellify Media is best known for successfully rebooting Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? with Jeremy Clarkson for ITV, and Blind Date with Paul O'Grady for Channel 5.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kieran Doherty (writer)</span>

Kieran Doherty is a Northern Irish writer, TV format creator and Executive Producer. He is also the Joint Managing Director of Stellify Media, alongside his creative and business partner, Matthew Worthy. Doherty & Worthy have co-created multiple entertainment formats - including the international formats Secret Fortune and Take The Money and Run - while working for UK independent production company Wild Rover Productions. In 2014 Doherty & Worthy launched the production company Stellify Media as a joint venture with Sony Pictures Television. Stellify Media is best known for successfully rebooting Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? with Jeremy Clarkson for ITV, and Blind Date with Paul O'Grady for Channel 5.

Jonathan Littman is an American producer who serves as president of Jerry Bruckheimer Television.

References

  1. "Philip Morrow, Managing Director, Wild Rover Productions" (PDF). Entertainment Masterclass. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 17 October 2008.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  2. "Phil Morrow", Hollywood.com' Retrieved on 6-6-2008.
  3. "Pact Announces New Council For 2006", Pact press release [ permanent dead link ] 7 December 2006. Retrieved on 6-6-2008.
  4. "Northern Ireland Screen Board: Philip Morrow". Northern Ireland Screen Board. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 17 October 2008.
  5. "Broadcasting Council for Northern Ireland Minutes", from meeting of February 2006. Retrieved on 6-6-2008. [ permanent dead link ]
  6. 1 2 "ABC orders Irish gameshow " Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
  7. "ABC Picks Up Reality Series From Jerry Bruckheimer And Bertram Van Munster."
  8. ""'I'm Pointing a Gub at You': Bruckheimer Reality Competition Series, 'Take the Money and Run,' Given Six-Episode Order by ABC"". Archived from the original on 18 October 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2010.