Boffola Pictures limited is a production company founded by Kate Daughton and Shane Allen.
Our ambition is to enable comedy writers and performers to achieve excellence across the spectrum of sitcom and comedy drama.
Kate left her job as Head of Comedy at the BBC to set up Boffola Pictures. During her 5 years at the BBC she commissioned and exec-produced numerous shows across all channels. Key titles include, The Outlaw’s, Back to Life, Alma’s Not Normal, In my Skin, Ghosts, Fleabag Series 2, This Time with Alan Partridge, The Witchfinder, Two Doors Down, Mum, Don’t Forget the Driver, Upstart Crow, Defending the Guilty, Man Like Mobeen, Count Arthur Strong, Out of her Mind, Toast of Tinseltown, The Goes Wrong Show and Stand Up for Live Comedy. Before joining the BBC Kate produced a number of shows, most notably the BAFTA award-winning Toast of London and David Mitchell and Robert Webb’s Back.
Shane is the first person to have held the Head of Comedy role at both Channel 4 and the BBC. Key BBC commissioning credits: Peter Kay’s Car Share, Ghosts, Gavin & Stacey 2019 Christmas, Worzel Gummidge, Mum, Fleabag, Inside Number 9, Motherland, Frankie Boyle’s New World Order, Charlie Brooker’s Antiviral Wipe, Man Like Mobeen, This Country, Mandy, Detectorists, The Young Offenders, W1A, The Other One and People Just Do Nothing both the series and movie. He launched the BBC Comedy Association to promote more inclusiveness through writing bursaries and sponsoring off screen production entry roles across numerous shows; as well as bring the New Comedy Awards back to television.
At C4 he was responsible for The Inbetweeners Movie (£45m at the UK box office), Friday Night Dinner, Black Mirror, Toast, Peep Show, The IT Crowd, Cardinal Burns, Fonejacker, Star Stories, PhoneShop and Charlie Brooker’s Dead Set.
Early career in production included The 11 0’Clock Show, Shooting Stars, Ali G in Da USAiiii and The Brass Eye Special.
Joe began his career at BBC Radio Comedy, where he produced award-winning series including Alexei Sayle’s Imaginary Sandwich Bar and Liam William’s Ladhood for Radio 4. He successfully developed Ladhood for a transition to TV and produced three series of the coming-of-age sitcom for BBC Three, while developing a range of projects at BBC Studios Comedy.
Before joining Boffola, Emily spent three years in the BBC Comedy Commissioning team where she worked to support & promote new voices in British comedy. Her commissions include Peck ‘Eds for BBC Three, and the award-winning series Zen School of Motoring for BBC Two. She also worked as a Development Executive on Rye Lane for BBC Film and was responsible for the inaugural Festival of Funny shorts which brought 15 short films from emerging comedy filmmakers to BBC iPlayer.
Anjana graduated from University of Nottingham with a master’s in Film and TV Industries. She successfully secured the Peter Rice Disney Scholarship and started her career working at 20th Television in LA, as a Current Series Intern. She joined Boffola Pictures in the spring of 2023.
Friday Night Live wins the BAFTA for best Comedy Entertainment show and in the Best Male Comedy Performance category 14-year-old Lenny Rush became one of the youngest-ever BAFTA TV Awards winners for BBC1’s Am I Being Unreasonable?
Daisy May Cooper has been nominated for her performance in the Best Female Comedy Performance Category and 14-year-old Lenny Rush has been nominated in the best Male Comedy Performance category. The show is also in the running for Best Scripted Comedy.
Hulu has acquired Daisy May Cooper’s hit BBC comedy-thriller Am I Being Unreasonable The streamer has taken U.S. rights to all six episodes of the genre-bending comedy, which was written by the This Country creator and Selin Hizli (Mum), and Exec Produced by Jack Thorne. The show will debut as a Hulu original on April 11.
The six-part series for BBC One and BBC iPlayer, co-created by BAFTA Award-winning writers Paul Coleman and Sian Gibson, has started filming in Stockport.
Set in Manchester, it’s 1990, the last days of Thatcher, we meet Martin Parker (Conleth Hill), a self-made impresario with the ambition of Alan Sugar and the swagger of Kilroy Silk. A man with a chain of electrical stores bearing his name, he seems to have it all. But the truth is, times are changing. He’s swimming in debt; his complicated private life is catching up with him and he’s starting to lose his power.
Conleth Hill (Game Of Thrones), Rosie Cavaliero (Worzel Gummidge), George Costigan (Happy Valley) and Sheila Reid (Benidorm) star alongside Sian Gibson (Peter Kay’s Car Share).
Joe Nunnery, producer of BBC Three sitcom Ladhood, will assume the newly created role.
Joe Nunnery says: “I couldn’t be more excited to join Boffola as I’ve long admired Kate and Shane as two of the most talented comedy minds in the business. It’s a privilege to be invited to join their team, who are already producing exciting and boundary-pushing comedy.”
Shane Allen, Chief Creative Officer at Boffola, said: “Joe’s a class act; beloved by talent, agents and broadcasters alike. He espouses our company ethos of taking creative swings and backing talent 100%, alongside being rigorous and good-humoured. Kate and I are very much hoping he’s the Beyonce to our Kelly and Michelle, the Barry to our Maurice and Robin, the Good to our Bad and Ugly, the Crackle to our Snap and Pop. You get the idea, yeah?”
The comedy thriller Am I Being Unreasonable? has been renewed by the BBC for a second series. Written by and starring Daisy May Cooper and Selin Hizli, the critically acclaimed comedy thriller will again be Exec Produced by Jack Thorne. Breakthrough star and BAFTA winner Lenny Rush will also return for the second series.
Daisy May Cooper & Selin Hizli, writers-creators say: “When we first started writing this show we never dreamed it would get commissioned, let alone get another series. We’re so grateful to everyone who has watched it and we promise we will work our hardest to make the second series even better than the first… It’s gonna hit you with all the grace and decorum of a reversing dump truck without any tyres on.”
BBC Comedy commissions the 6×30” series co-created by BAFTA Award winning writer Paul Coleman and Sian Gibson.
Set in Manchester, it’s 1990, the last days of Thatcher, we meet Martin Parker (Conleth Hill), a self-made impresario with the ambition of Alan Sugar and the swagger of Kilroy Silk. A man with a chain of electrical stores bearing his name, he seems to have it all. But the truth is, times are changing. He’s swimming in debt; his complicated private life is catching up with him and he’s starting to lose his power.
Conleth Hill (Game Of Thrones), Rosie Cavaliero (Worzel Gummidge), George Costigan (Happy Valley) and Sheila Reid (Benidorm) star alongside Sian Gibson (Peter Kay’s Car Share).
The Power of Parker (6 x 30) has been commissioned by Jon Petrie, Director of Comedy for BBC One and BBC iPlayer. It is co-created and written by Paul Coleman and Sian Gibson, produced by Gill Isles, executive produced by Kate Daughton for Boffola Pictures and Head of BBC Comedy Tanya Qureshi. It will be co-produced with Lookout Point.
Boffola Pictures has landed its debut commission, a BBC comedy-thriller from This Country creator Daisy May Cooper and Deadwater Fell’s Selin Hizli, exec produced by Jack Thorne.
Cooper and Hizli will play the leads and are starring in the untitled six-part show, portraying two friends who love fun, laughter and booze until everything unravels.
(6 x 30, BBC One)
Boffola Pictures has made its first appointment, bringing in the former BBC Development Producer Emily Allen. Allen’s commissioning credits include PRU for BBC Three, stand up show Funny Festival Live for BBC Two, Peck’Eds from emerging talent Soph Galustian & the upcoming BBC Three series, Zen School of Motoring. She was also responsible for the inaugural BBC Festival of Funny shorts, which brought 15 short films from emerging comedy filmmakers to BBC iPlayer.