Hello Sunshine hires ex-C4 format chief to lead unscripted push into UK

The Great British Bake-Off

Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine is moving into the UK and has hired a Channel 4 exec to run its new unscripted division in the country.

Ex-formats and features exec Sarah Lazenby, who departed C4 last year, will lead Hello Sunshine’s UK unscripted business as EVP, reporting into the Candle Media-owned production firm’s head of unscripted, Sara Rea.

Rea joined Hello Sunshine last year after the company acquired her own firm, SKT Productions. Hello Sunshine’s UK arm is already working with C4 on an unscripted series, details of which are under wraps.

Lazenby had been behind C4 shows including The Great British Bake Off and Crazy Delicious, which was coproduced with Netflix.

Rea said she was “thrilled to expand our global mission of innovative, unscripted, female-led storytelling” to the UK.

“Sarah Lazenby is perfectly poised to lead the charge, as her talent, passion, and sensibility for great storytelling, couldn’t be more in sync with our mission,” she added.