Film & TV Database

Biography Owns Talent TV North with Ed Pugh JOHN KAYE COOPER (Deputy Chairman & Creative Director, Talent Television) began his career as a cameraman with Scottish Television in 1967, progressing through Thames Television and Yorkshire TV to TVS (Television South), where he was appointed Controller of Entertainment in 1984, going on to launch the television careers of many established entertainers such as Brian Conley, Richard Digance and Bobby Davro. He was made Controller of Entertainment at London Weekend Television in 1990 with responsibility for many of ITV's top peak-time series including BLIND DATE, HALE AND PACE, IT'LL BE ALRIGHT ON THE NIGHT, The BAFTA Awards and the Audience With specials. John himself commissioned many successful series such as BARRYMORE, CATCHPHRASE and GLADIATORS before leaving LWT in 1996 to become Managing Director of Talent Television. As the Company s Creative Director, he has been responsible for many of its successful entertainment programmes, including Test the Nation, The Villa, TV Scrabble, Made in LA, What Did ITV Do For Me? and, most recently, Corkscrewed: the Wrath of Grapes (a co-production with Magic Pictures Inc for Fox Reality (US) and Sky One) and Viewer of the Year for ITV. (©1996-2006 Talent Television)