Fulwell 73 Hires ITV’s Saskia Schuster to Head New Scripted Department

Fulwell 73 has hired Saskia Schuster as its head of scripted to expand the company into the scripted space as it launches the new department in the U.K.

Based in London, Schuster will report to Fulwell 73 managing partner Leo Pearlman. Currently the controller for comedy at ITV, Schuster is slated to take up her new post on May 4.

At ITV, where she has served in her current role since 2014, she’s secured commissions and recommissions for such programs as The Trouble With Maggie Cole, The Keith and Paddy Picture Show, Benidorm, Birds of a Feather, Bad Move, Kate and Koji and Harry Hill’s Alien Fun Capsule for ITV, as well as Celebrity Juice, Plebs, Shopping with Keith Lemon, The Stand Up Sketch Show, Don’t Hate The Playaz and Timewasters for ITV2. She also founded Comedy 50:50, an initiative aimed at addressing gender imbalance in comedy by implementing practical measures to achieve equal representation in writing rooms and production teams for women.

Before joining ITV, Schuster was commissioning editor for comedy at Sky. Prior to that, she was head of development at Toff Media. She also previously served as head of scripted comedy at Objective Productions.

Schuster said: “Fulwell 73 is synonymous with creating world-class comedy and entertainment programming working with the best talent. Off the back of international successes such as Gavin and Stacey and Roast Battle, I’m really excited to be joining to expand Fulwell’s scripted output. As anyone who knows me already knows, I’m passionate about addressing gender imbalance in comedy and I am really pleased that at Fulwell this is very much part of their remit. It’s great that when I join Fulwell in May I’ll be able to continue my work with Comedy 50:50, with support from my new colleagues and the wider industry.”

Pearlman added: “Saskia is one of the best comedy executives in the business and the perfect cultural fit for Fulwell. She has an enviable track record of having commissioned some of the U.K.’s best-loved shows during her time at ITV and Sky. We’re really pleased to welcome her to the Fulwell family as we continue to expand our scripted programming and cannot wait to work with her on a slate of original, innovative and noisy content.”