Stephen Lambert (media executive)
Encyclopedia
Stephen Lambert is an English television producer and executive. He is best known for creating and launching international hit formats such as the award-winning Wife Swap
, Faking It
, Secret Millionaire
, and Undercover Boss
. He is chief executive of Studio Lambert
, a British and American independent television production company backed by super-indie All3Media
. His programs have won many international awards, including more than half a dozen BAFTA awards, the Rose D'Or of Montreaux and an International Emmy. In 2010, The Huffington Post
selected Lambert as one its Game Changers - '100 innovators, mavericks, visionaries, and leaders who are changing the way we look at the world and the way we live in it.' He is married to newspaper columnist Jenni Russell
and they have two children.
, Lambert was educated at the University of East Anglia
, where he took a first in Politics & Philosophy. He studied as a post-graduate student at Nuffield College, Oxford
where he wrote a book on the history of British broadcasting policy published by the British Film Institute
called Channel 4: Television With A Difference? that coincided with the launch of Britain's fourth terrestrial channel in November 1982.
and worked in the Documentaries Department for the next sixteen years. He was a producer and director of documentaries for the BAFTA-winning BBC2 series 40 Minutes
and the BBC1 series Inside Story
; many set in conflict areas such as Sri Lanka, Croatia, South Africa, Kuwait, Gaza and Northern Ireland. Between 1992 and 1994, he produced a six part documentary series for BBC2 about the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
which was filmed in Northern Iraq, the former Soviet Union, Bosnia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Europe, the US and in Whitehall.
In 1994, Lambert became the founding editor of BBC2's main documentary strand of the 1990s, Modern Times. While running Modern Times, he executive produced some of the first BBC1 docu-soaps, including The Clampers and Lakesiders, as well as the fly-on-the-wall series about Sunderland A.F.C.
, Premier Passions
and the five part Royal Television Society
award-winning series about the Department of Social Security
called The System
. Lambert also started a long working relationship with the film-maker Adam Curtis
, executive producing his series The Mayfair Set
, winner of the 1999 BAFTA best factual series award.
's first director of programs. He devised and executive produced the highly-acclaimed Faking It
series which premiered on Channel 4
in 2000. It won the BAFTA best features program award in 2001 and 2002 and the Rose D'Or
in 2003. This was followed by Wife Swap
, which was a hit on Channel 4 attracting audiences of more than six million. It won the BAFTA best features program award in 2003 and the Rose D'Or
in 2004. Lambert continued working with Adam Curtis
, executive producing his The Century of the Self
(2002), The Power of Nightmares
(2004) (winner of BAFTA best factual series award 2004), and The Trap (2007).
From 1998 to 2005, RDF Media's grew rapidly with Lambert spearheading its editorial development. RDF started producing in the US and opened its RDF USA production office in Los Angeles. In 2004, Wife Swap
became RDF's first US network series airing on ABC
. RDF received Broadcast
's Best Production Company of the Year Award for 2002, 2004 & 2006, the only company to win this award three times. The company's turnover rose from £3.5m (1998) to £48m (2005) and in May 2005, RDF Media floated on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market
. The RDF Media Group started to acquire other independent production companies such as IWC Media, The Foundation, The Comedy Unit
, Touchpaper Television. Lambert became the group's chief creative officer. He continued to devise new formats such as Secret Millionaire
, which won the Rose D'Or
in 2007, Shipwrecked: Battle of the Islands for Channel 4, and The Verdict
for BBC2.
In July 2007, Lambert found himself caught up in controversy when the BBC showed a trailer to journalists of a documentary series that RDF was producing called A Year with the Queen. The trailer seemed to show the Queen walking out of a photo-shoot with celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz
, but it later emerged she was walking into the shoot. Lambert took responsibility for a misleadingly edited trailer that was shown previously to international co-producers, but he was not involved in the edit of the BBC trailer shown to the press. When an inquiry into the affair reported in October 2007, Lambert chose to leave RDF and at the same time, Peter Fincham
, Controller of BBC One, and his head of publicity, Jane Fletcher, resigned from their jobs.
, in partnership with All3Media
. Based in London and Los Angeles, it devises and produces non-scripted programs for the UK and US markets. In the 2011 Broadcast (magazine) survey of independent production companies, Studio Lambert ranked #11 by size of turnover.
Studio Lambert's first major formatted show was Undercover Boss
, which started on Britain's Channel 4
in 2009. The company's American version premiered on CBS
in February 2010 immediately after the Super Bowl
to a record-breaking audience of nearly 40 million viewers. It went on to become the most popular new show of the 2009-10 television season with an average audience of 17 million viewers and to earn an Emmy Awards nomination for Outstanding Reality Program. The second season averaged 12.3 million viewers and on March 28th 2011 CBS announced that it has ordered a third season of Undercover Boss from Studio Lambert.
Other international formats from Studio Lambert include Three in a Bed and Four in a Bed, The Fairy Jobmother and Love Thy Neighbour.
The company also produces documentary projects such as the experimental real-time documentary series Seven Days
for Channel 4 and a feature documentary on the financial crash called The Flaw
which was launched at the Sundance Film Festival
in January 2011.
Wife Swap
Wife Swap is a reality television program, originally produced by UK independent television production company RDF Media and created by Stephen Lambert. It was first broadcast in 2003 on the UK's Channel 4. Since 2004, a US version has also been broadcast on the ABC network...
, Faking It
Faking It
Faking It was a television programme originating on Channel 4 which has spawned various international remakes, including a US version which began in 2003 on the TLC network...
, Secret Millionaire
Secret Millionaire
The Secret Millionaire is a reality television show which originated in the UK, in which millionaires go incognito into impoverished communities and agree to give away tens of thousands of pounds . Members of the community are told the cameras are present to film a documentary...
, and Undercover Boss
Undercover Boss
Undercover Boss is a television franchise series that has been released in multiple countries, originating in 2009 on the British Channel 4...
. He is chief executive of Studio Lambert
Studio Lambert
Studio Lambert is a fast-growing independent television production company based in Los Angeles and London.It specializes in creating and producing entertaining non-scripted programs for the UK, US and international markets. It launched in Soho, London, in March 2008 and six months later opened a...
, a British and American independent television production company backed by super-indie All3Media
All3Media
All3Media is a television production company which makes programmes under several different subsidiaries. The company was formed in 2003 following the acquisition of Chrysalis Group's television arm which was rebranded North One....
. His programs have won many international awards, including more than half a dozen BAFTA awards, the Rose D'Or of Montreaux and an International Emmy. In 2010, The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
selected Lambert as one its Game Changers - '100 innovators, mavericks, visionaries, and leaders who are changing the way we look at the world and the way we live in it.' He is married to newspaper columnist Jenni Russell
Jenni Russell
Jenni Russell is a British columnist and broadcaster. She writes the Monday political column for The Evening Standard and also writes regularly for The Sunday Times and The Guardian. She worked for many years at the BBC and ITN, most recently as editor of The World Tonight on BBC Radio 4...
and they have two children.
Education
Born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Lambert was educated at the University of East Anglia
University of East Anglia
The University of East Anglia is a public research university based in Norwich, United Kingdom. It was established in 1963, and is a founder-member of the 1994 Group of research-intensive universities.-History:...
, where he took a first in Politics & Philosophy. He studied as a post-graduate student at Nuffield College, Oxford
Nuffield College, Oxford
Nuffield College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is an all-graduate college and primarily a research establishment, specialising in the social sciences, particularly economics, politics and sociology. It is a research centre in the social sciences...
where he wrote a book on the history of British broadcasting policy published by the British Film Institute
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute is a charitable organisation established by Royal Charter to:-Cinemas:The BFI runs the BFI Southbank and IMAX theatre, both located on the south bank of the River Thames in London...
called Channel 4: Television With A Difference? that coincided with the launch of Britain's fourth terrestrial channel in November 1982.
BBC
In 1983, he joined the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and worked in the Documentaries Department for the next sixteen years. He was a producer and director of documentaries for the BAFTA-winning BBC2 series 40 Minutes
40 Minutes
40 Minutes was a BBC TV documentary strand broadcast on BBC Two between 1981 and 1994.Some documentaries in the original series were revisited and updated in a 2006 version, Forty Minutes On....
and the BBC1 series Inside Story
Inside Story
Inside Story is Grace Jones's eighth studio album, and her first with the Manhattan Records label. It was also her first time working with producer Nile Rodgers...
; many set in conflict areas such as Sri Lanka, Croatia, South Africa, Kuwait, Gaza and Northern Ireland. Between 1992 and 1994, he produced a six part documentary series for BBC2 about the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
which was filmed in Northern Iraq, the former Soviet Union, Bosnia, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, Europe, the US and in Whitehall.
In 1994, Lambert became the founding editor of BBC2's main documentary strand of the 1990s, Modern Times. While running Modern Times, he executive produced some of the first BBC1 docu-soaps, including The Clampers and Lakesiders, as well as the fly-on-the-wall series about Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland A.F.C.
Sunderland Association Football Club is an English association football club based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear who currently play in the Premier League...
, Premier Passions
Premier Passions
Premier Passions is a five-part British documentary TV series, broadcast on BBC One between 24 February and 31 March 1998. It was narrated by actress and Sunderland fan Gina McKee, directed by John Alexander and produced by Stephen Lambert....
and the five part Royal Television Society
Royal Television Society
The Royal Television Society is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present and future. It is the oldest television society in the world...
award-winning series about the Department of Social Security
Department of Social Security
The Department of Social Security is the name of a defunct governmental agency in the United Kingdom.The DSS replaced the older Department of Health and Social Security, from 1988 until 2001, when it was itself largely replaced as a department of the Government of the United Kingdom by the...
called The System
The System
The System can refer to:* Any system* Any system of government, law, or bureaucracy: political system. The phrase in this usage can carry negative connotations.* Systema, a Russian martial art...
. Lambert also started a long working relationship with the film-maker Adam Curtis
Adam Curtis
Adam Curtis is a British BAFTA winning documentarian and a writer, television producer, director and narrator. He works for BBC Current Affairs.-Early life and education:Curtis was born in 1955...
, executive producing his series The Mayfair Set
The Mayfair Set
The Mayfair Set is a series of programmes produced by Adam Curtis for the BBC, first broadcast in the summer of 1999.The programme looked at how buccaneer capitalists of hot money were allowed to shape the climate of the Thatcher years, focusing on the rise of Colonel David Stirling, Jim Slater,...
, winner of the 1999 BAFTA best factual series award.
RDF Media
In 1998, Lambert became RDF MediaRDF Media
Zodiak Media is a Anglo-American television production company. It was formed in 2010 when RDF Media Group was acquired by, and merged with Zodiak Entertainment...
's first director of programs. He devised and executive produced the highly-acclaimed Faking It
Faking It
Faking It was a television programme originating on Channel 4 which has spawned various international remakes, including a US version which began in 2003 on the TLC network...
series which premiered on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in 2000. It won the BAFTA best features program award in 2001 and 2002 and the Rose D'Or
Rose d'Or
The Rose d’Or is one of the most important international festivals in entertainment television. It was founded in Montreux in 1961 and has taken place in Lucerne since 2004. Producers, executives from independent and public service broadcasters and heads of production companies from over 40...
in 2003. This was followed by Wife Swap
Wife Swap
Wife Swap is a reality television program, originally produced by UK independent television production company RDF Media and created by Stephen Lambert. It was first broadcast in 2003 on the UK's Channel 4. Since 2004, a US version has also been broadcast on the ABC network...
, which was a hit on Channel 4 attracting audiences of more than six million. It won the BAFTA best features program award in 2003 and the Rose D'Or
Rose d'Or
The Rose d’Or is one of the most important international festivals in entertainment television. It was founded in Montreux in 1961 and has taken place in Lucerne since 2004. Producers, executives from independent and public service broadcasters and heads of production companies from over 40...
in 2004. Lambert continued working with Adam Curtis
Adam Curtis
Adam Curtis is a British BAFTA winning documentarian and a writer, television producer, director and narrator. He works for BBC Current Affairs.-Early life and education:Curtis was born in 1955...
, executive producing his The Century of the Self
The Century of the Self
The Century of the Self is an award winning British television documentary film. It focuses on how Sigmund Freud, Anna Freud, and Edward Bernays influenced the way corporations and governments have thought about, dealt with, and controlled people....
(2002), The Power of Nightmares
The Power of Nightmares
The Power of Nightmares, subtitled The Rise of the Politics of Fear, is a BBC documentary film series, written and produced by Adam Curtis. Its three one-hour parts consist mostly of a montage of archive footage with Curtis's narration...
(2004) (winner of BAFTA best factual series award 2004), and The Trap (2007).
From 1998 to 2005, RDF Media's grew rapidly with Lambert spearheading its editorial development. RDF started producing in the US and opened its RDF USA production office in Los Angeles. In 2004, Wife Swap
Wife Swap
Wife Swap is a reality television program, originally produced by UK independent television production company RDF Media and created by Stephen Lambert. It was first broadcast in 2003 on the UK's Channel 4. Since 2004, a US version has also been broadcast on the ABC network...
became RDF's first US network series airing on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
. RDF received Broadcast
Broadcast
Broadcast or Broadcasting may refer to:* Broadcasting, the transmission of audio and video signals* Broadcast, an individual television program or radio program* Broadcast , an English electronic music band...
's Best Production Company of the Year Award for 2002, 2004 & 2006, the only company to win this award three times. The company's turnover rose from £3.5m (1998) to £48m (2005) and in May 2005, RDF Media floated on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market
Alternative Investment Market
AIM is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange, allowing smaller companies to float shares with a more flexible regulatory system than is applicable to the main market....
. The RDF Media Group started to acquire other independent production companies such as IWC Media, The Foundation, The Comedy Unit
The Comedy Unit
The Comedy Unit or known sometimes as just Comedy Unit is a Scottish company that produces sitcoms, comedy sketches, live shows and other comedy productions...
, Touchpaper Television. Lambert became the group's chief creative officer. He continued to devise new formats such as Secret Millionaire
Secret Millionaire
The Secret Millionaire is a reality television show which originated in the UK, in which millionaires go incognito into impoverished communities and agree to give away tens of thousands of pounds . Members of the community are told the cameras are present to film a documentary...
, which won the Rose D'Or
Rose d'Or
The Rose d’Or is one of the most important international festivals in entertainment television. It was founded in Montreux in 1961 and has taken place in Lucerne since 2004. Producers, executives from independent and public service broadcasters and heads of production companies from over 40...
in 2007, Shipwrecked: Battle of the Islands for Channel 4, and The Verdict
The Verdict
The Verdict is a 1982 courtroom drama film which tells the story of a down-on-his-luck alcoholic lawyer who pushes a medical malpractice case in order to improve his own situation, but discovers along the way that he is doing the right thing. Since the lawsuit involves a woman in a persistent...
for BBC2.
In July 2007, Lambert found himself caught up in controversy when the BBC showed a trailer to journalists of a documentary series that RDF was producing called A Year with the Queen. The trailer seemed to show the Queen walking out of a photo-shoot with celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz
Annie Leibovitz
Anna-Lou "Annie" Leibovitz is an American portrait photographer.-Early life and education:Born in Waterbury, Connecticut, Leibovitz is the third of six children. She is a third-generation American whose great-grandparents were Jewish immigrants, from Central and Eastern Europe. Her father's...
, but it later emerged she was walking into the shoot. Lambert took responsibility for a misleadingly edited trailer that was shown previously to international co-producers, but he was not involved in the edit of the BBC trailer shown to the press. When an inquiry into the affair reported in October 2007, Lambert chose to leave RDF and at the same time, Peter Fincham
Peter Fincham
Peter Fincham is a British television producer and executive, currently the Director of Television for the ITV network. He was also formerly the Controller of BBC One, the primary television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation, until his resignation on 5 October 2007, following...
, Controller of BBC One, and his head of publicity, Jane Fletcher, resigned from their jobs.
Studio Lambert
In 2008, Lambert launched a new independent production company, Studio LambertStudio Lambert
Studio Lambert is a fast-growing independent television production company based in Los Angeles and London.It specializes in creating and producing entertaining non-scripted programs for the UK, US and international markets. It launched in Soho, London, in March 2008 and six months later opened a...
, in partnership with All3Media
All3Media
All3Media is a television production company which makes programmes under several different subsidiaries. The company was formed in 2003 following the acquisition of Chrysalis Group's television arm which was rebranded North One....
. Based in London and Los Angeles, it devises and produces non-scripted programs for the UK and US markets. In the 2011 Broadcast (magazine) survey of independent production companies, Studio Lambert ranked #11 by size of turnover.
Studio Lambert's first major formatted show was Undercover Boss
Undercover Boss
Undercover Boss is a television franchise series that has been released in multiple countries, originating in 2009 on the British Channel 4...
, which started on Britain's Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
in 2009. The company's American version premiered on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
in February 2010 immediately after the Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
to a record-breaking audience of nearly 40 million viewers. It went on to become the most popular new show of the 2009-10 television season with an average audience of 17 million viewers and to earn an Emmy Awards nomination for Outstanding Reality Program. The second season averaged 12.3 million viewers and on March 28th 2011 CBS announced that it has ordered a third season of Undercover Boss from Studio Lambert.
Other international formats from Studio Lambert include Three in a Bed and Four in a Bed, The Fairy Jobmother and Love Thy Neighbour.
The company also produces documentary projects such as the experimental real-time documentary series Seven Days
Seven Days
Seven Days is a science fiction television series based on the premise of time travel. It was produced by UPN from 1998 to 2001.The television channel Sleuth started syndicating all of the episodes as of August 2, 2009....
for Channel 4 and a feature documentary on the financial crash called The Flaw
The Flaw
The Flaw is a 1955 British crime film directed by Terence Fisher. It stars John Bentley and Donald Houston.-Cast:* John Bentley as Paul Oliveri* Donald Houston as John Millway* Rona Anderson as Monica Oliveri* Tonia Bern as Vera...
which was launched at the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
in January 2011.
External links
- Studio Lambert website
- The Flaw website
- Lambert, Stephen (1982) Channel 4: Television With A Difference? ISBN 0851701248
- BAFTA television nominations & winners