New Pictures co-founder Charlie Pattinson steps down as co-CEO, Willow Grylls takes helm

Catherine The Great

Charlie Pattinson, co-founder and joint-CEO of All3Media-backed UK prodco New Pictures is stepping down to become non-executive chair.

Fellow co-founder Willow Grylls will carry on as CEO, while Pattinson will continue at the company as an executive producer, including on the second season of Sky One’s Cobra and the upcoming BBC One original drama series Champion, alongside Balloon Entertainment.

Pattinson co-founded New Pictures alongside Grylls and creative director Elaine Pyke in 2013, with Grylls becoming joint-CEO in May last year. Together they have executive produced all New Pictures output over the last eight years including Catherine The Great for Sky Atlantic and HBO, The Missing for BBC One and Starz and The Innocents for Netflix.

Charlie Pattinson

Other upcoming productions include Dalgliesh, a new six-part series adaptation of P.D. James’ Inspector Dalgliesh Mysteries crime novels for Channel 5 and Acorn TV and an untitled seven-part drama based on the crimes of Peter Sutcliffe – aka The Yorkshire Ripper – for ITV.

Before setting up New Pictures, Pattinson founded Company Pictures with George Faber in 1998 and has served as producer and executive producer on projects including Our Friends In The North for BBC One, Elizabeth I for Channel 4 and HBO, 10 seasons of Shameless for Channel 4, seven series of Wild At Heart for ITV and seven series of Skins for E4.

“I am incredibly proud of the work we have all done at New Pictures and of the extraordinary team that Willow, Elaine and I have built over the last eight years,” said Pattinson. “It’s time for me to work differently and take on new challenges and with Willow at the helm I am looking forward to New Pictures next period of continued growth and creativity.”

“Setting up New Pictures and seeing the company grow has been a hugely rewarding and collaborative experience,” added Grylls, who said that Pattinson would remain “a creative force” in the company as she takes New Pictures to its next stage of development.