U.K.'s Lambert hangs reality shingle
Venture launched with TV group All3Media
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Lambert will today unveil Studio Lambert, a venture he's launched with U.K. indie TV group All3Media.
Move marks a return to the form for Lambert, who was forced to resign from RDF in October in the wake of the BBC Queengate/Crowngate controversy.
Studio Lambert joins All3Media's group of 12 U.K. and international TV production companies, including Company Pictures (HBO's "Generation Kill"), Maverick Television (Lifetime's "How to Look Good Naked") and Lion TV (PBS' "History Detectives").
All3Media CEO Steve Morrison and his colleagues "have created a great company that knows just how to help creative teams build their businesses," Lambert said. Lambert has already recruited production vet Peter Moore ("Jamie's Kitchen," the U.K. "Apprentice") as a senior exec; former senior BBC News exec Jamie Donald will oversee development.
Studio Lambert has already signed a development deal with "Wife Swap" exec producer Jenny Crowther and "Brat Camp" producer Tamara Abood.
Morrison called Lambert "one of Britain's most recognized creative talents."
"His TV programs are known around the world," Morrison said. Studio Lambert will be based in London's Soho district but is also scouting Los Angeles to open a U.S. outpost. Lambert hopes to name a Studio Lambert USA topper later this year
"We want to get established here in Britain first, get some great development done and then hit the States with some really strong ideas," Lambert said. "There's no doubt that creating U.K. hits that we can produce for the U.S. market is central to our business proposition. It's what I did that worked so well for RDF."
Lambert joined RDF in 1998 and helped oversee the company's rapid growth over the past decade. His ride came to an end in 2007, when Lambert took responsibility for editing a clip that was mistakenly characterized to journos as Britain's Queen Elizabeth storming out of a photo shoot. The clip never aired, but RDF was nonetheless caught up in a hailstorm of other TV/royal family controversies last year, and Lambert opted to depart the company.
