FilmFour looking for laughs
Leddy gets comedy post; Gutch ankles
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Gutch's exit, which appears to be voluntary, follows the closure of the old FilmFour, which has been replaced by a new movie department within C4 that also carries the FilmFour name.
C4 chief exec Mark Thompson and new film head Tessa Ross wanted Gutch to stay, but he has decided to move into indie film and TV drama production.
"Mark and Tessa have been extremely robust in their commitment to continuing the Lab in the new FilmFour, which is good news for the many exciting filmmakers we are working with," Gutch said. "However, I now feel that it is time for me to change direction."
"Robin has done a fantastic job of creating the Lab as a place for new young talent to thrive and leaves behind a great slate of projects," Ross commented.
Under Gutch, the Lab produced award-winning low-budget pics including "Jump Tomorrow" and "My Brother Tom." Previously at C4, he exec produced Carine Adler's "Under the Skin" and Paul McGuigan's "The Acid House Trilogy."
Bridging gap
Leddy's appointment as head of film comedy, alongside her job as head of TV comedy, is an attempt by the new FilmFour to bridge the gap between the web's tradition of developing new comedy talent and its historic failure to repeat that success in movies.
Leddy's TV hits include cult item "The Book Group," "Smack the Pony" (which has now spawned a non-C4 movie spinoff, "Gladiatress") and "The 11 O'Clock Show" (which gave birth to the Ali G character, also subject of a non-C4 movie).
