Reese Witherspoons Hello Sunshine Opens UK Unscripted Division With Ex-Channel 4 Exec Sarah Lazenby At The Helm

Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine is headed for Britain. The Candle Media-owned production company is launching an unscripted division in the UK, and is already developing its first production with terrestrial network Channel 4.

Hello Sunshine Unscripted UK will be led by Sarah Lazenby, a former Channel 4 Head of Features and Formats who left the broadcaster last year. While at the British public service broadcaster, she oversaw major titles such as The Great British Bake Off, Jamie Oliver’s programs and formats such as Flirty Dancing and Netflix co-pro Crazy Delicious. More recently she produced HBO’s Emmy-nominated retrospective special Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return to Hogwarts.

Lazenby will be Executive Vice President, Unscripted UK and report to Hello Sunshine’s Head of Unscripted Sara Rea. Hello Sunshine last year acquired Rea’s company SKR Productions,  which was behind Prime Video’s Heidi Klum and Tim Gunn series Making the Cut.

Details on Lazenby’s program in development at Channel 4 weren’t forthcoming but will reunite her with her former Channel 4 colleagues.

The launch of Hello Sunshine Unscripted UK is part of The Morning Show co-producer’s focus on putting women at the center of stories.

“We are thrilled to expand our global mission of innovative, unscripted, female-led storytelling to the UK,” said Rea. “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. This is a strategic and exciting moment for us as a company as we continue building upon our trusted relationship with talent and viewers around the world.”

“Hello Sunshine’s unique global brand and inspirational mission to change the way women walk through the world through storytelling is one I have admired for quite some time.” said Sarah Lazenby “It’s a dream come true to join the talented team and I look forward to bringing the sunshine to the UK by creating the next generation of joyous and entertaining formats.

Hello Sunshine’s unscripted slate includes Get Organized on Netflix; Apple TV+ competition series My Kind of Country, which is currently in production; and To Paris For Love, an unscripted romantic comedy feature for Roku.

Sarah Harden, CEO of Hello Sunshine, which Candle last year acquired in a deal that valued Witherspoon’s business at around $900M, announced the new UK division today.

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