The founders of Made in Chelsea indie Monkey have resurfaced with a new indie – and a first-look deal with BBC Studios.
David Granger [left, main picture] and Will Macdonald [right] have set up Idle Industries, which will develop high-end unscripted formats for both the UK and internationally.
It is the latest BBCS investment in non-scripted after taking ownership of Kelly Webb-Lamb’s Mothership in May and hiring ITV commissioning editor Peter Tierney last month to lead a reality-centred development label.
Granger and Macdonald, who first collaborated in the mid-1990s on Chris Evans’ Channel 4 shows TFI Friday and Don’t Forget Your Toothbrush, set up Monkey in 2000.
They sold the company to NBC in 2010 and exited in 2023, with the parent company formally winding up the label and folding it into Universal Television Alternative Studio UK earlier this year.
Alongside Made in Chelsea, Monkey was behind shows such as The Real Housewives of Chelsea, The Question Jury, The Emily Atack Show, Young, Dumb & Living Off Mum and Don’t Hate the Playaz.
In a statement, the pair said they were “pumped and excited” to be re-entering the fray.
“Idle Industries continues our unrelenting desire to create new entertainment in all its daft, wonderful and ever-evolving forms.
"Working closely with major and upcoming talent on- and off-screen, we’ll always prioritise storytelling, exceptional casting, originality, humour and high production values whatever the budget, genre or form.”
