Optomen
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| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Television production Mass media |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Headquarters | London, United Kingdom New York City, United States |
Key people | Patricia Llewellyn (CEO, Optomen UK) Maria Silver (President, Optomen USA) |
| Parent | All3Media |
| Divisions | Optomen Entertainment |
| Website | www |
Optomen is an independent television production company, with Optomen Television Ltd. for the United Kingdom and Optomen Productions Inc. (launched in 2002) for the United States.
Broadcasting[edit]
United Kingdom and the United States[edit]
Optomen produces a variety of television shows for UK broadcasters including BBC, ITV, Channel 4, Sky1, Good Food and Discovery. In the US, Optomen has produced directly for, or co-produced with, Fox, HBO, A&E, Discovery, TLC, PBS, and Food Network.[1]
International[edit]
Optomen International is its distribution arm which sells its completed programmes worldwide, the most popular being The F Word, Kitchen Nightmares, Great British Menu, and Police Camera Action!.[citation needed]
List of programmes[edit]
| Title | Broadcaster | Transmission date | Episodes | Running time per episode |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anatomy of Desire | Channel 4 | 1998 | 4 | 49 minutes |
| Anatomy of Disgust | Channel 4 | 2000 | 3 | 49 minutes |
| Boy Meets Girl | Channel 4 | 2001 | 3 | 49 minutes |
| Can Animals Predict Disaster? | PBS Nature | 1 | 60 minutes | |
| Crazy Drivers | Bravo | 2003 | 13 | 25 minutes |
| D-Day Despatches | ITV | June 2004 | 5 | 15 minutes |
| Eating With... | BBC Two | 8 | 30 minutes | |
| First Catch Your Hare: Hannah Glasse | BBC Four | 1 | 30 minutes | |
| Food Glorious Food | ITV | 2013 | 9 | 60 minutes |
| French Leave | Channel 4 | September 2003 | 10 | 30 minutes |
| Gangland Graveyard | PBS/Channel 4 | 1 | 60 minutes | |
| Giada in Paradise | Television Food Network | 2 | 60 minutes | |
| Gordon Ramsay's F Word | Channel 4 | 2005 | 9 | 60 minutes |
| Great British Weddings | Sky One | 3 | 60 minutes | |
| Green: The New Red, White & Blue | Discovery Channel | 1 | 90 minutes | |
| Hell's Kitchen | Fox | 2005 | 60 minutes | |
| If You Can't Stand The Heat | Channel 4 | 1999 | ||
| It's A Girl Thing | Channel 4 | November 2001 | 6 | 24 minutes |
| Japanese Schoolgirls | Discovery Science | 2 | 30 minutes | |
| Jump London | Channel 4 | |||
| Kitchen Criminals | BBC Two | 20 | 30 minutes | |
| Making Slough Happy | BBC Two | November 2005 | 4 | 60 minutes |
| Market Kitchen | Good Food | 2007 | ||
| Mary Queen of Shops | BBC Two | 4 | 60 minutes | |
| MasterChef | FOX | 2010 | 60 minutes | |
| Mind of a Millionaire | BBC Two | October 2003 | 4 | 60 minutes |
| Most Evil | Discovery Channel | |||
| Matilda and the Ramsay Bunch | CBBC | 2015–Present | 30 (1 upcoming series) | 15 minutes |
| Old Bear Stories | Carlton Television | 1993-1997 | 3 | 10 mins |
| One Fat Lady, One Large Life | BBC Two | 1999 | ||
| Police Camera Action! | ITV | 1994 | 30 minutes | |
| Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares | Channel 4/Fox | 2003 | 60 minutes | |
| Red Gold | WNET/Thirteen/Channel 4 | 3 | 49 minutes | |
| Return of the Chef | Channel 4 | January 2005 | 8 | 30 minutes |
| Role Reversal | Arts & Entertainment Network | March 2003 | 1 | 120 minutes |
| Saturday Cookbook | ITV Breakfast | 2012 | 21 | 44 minutes |
| Sex BC | Channel 4 | July 2002 | 2 | 49 minutes |
| Spirituality Shopper | Channel 4 | June 2005 | ||
| The Great British Menu | BBC Two | 80 | 30 minutes | |
| The Naked Chef | BBC Two | 1999 | ||
| Two Fat Ladies | BBC Two | 1996–1999 | 24 | 30 minutes |
| Two Men in a Trench - Series 1 | BBC Two | September 2002 | 6 | 50 minutes |
| Two Men in a Trench - Series 2 | BBC Two | February 2004 | 6 | 60 minutes |
| Tyler's Ultimate | Food Network | 2003 | 26 | 22 minutes |
| Worst Cooks in America | Food Network | 2010 | 22 | 60 minutes |
| You’re Not the Man I Married | Lifetime | 13 | 30 minutes |
Publications[edit]
Optomen has also published books to accompany the following programmes: The F Word, Great British Menu, Kitchen Nightmares, Two Fat Ladies, and The Naked Chef.
Awards[edit]
The company has won many awards over the years, including an International Emmy, three BAFTAs, three Royal Television Society awards, three Indie awards, and two Glenfiddich awards.[2]
Sale to All3Media[edit]
On 13 August 2010, it was announced that Optomen had been acquired by All3Media in a £40 million takeover.[3] The agreement saw All3Media take control of Optomen along with its New York-based subsidiary Optomen Productions Inc and One Potato Two Potato, which was established as a joint venture with Gordon Ramsay.[3]
References[edit]
- ^ "About Optomen an international television production company". Archived from the original on 2007-09-01. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
- ^ "Awards Optomen has been nominated for or won". Archived from the original on 2007-08-31. Retrieved 2007-10-06.
- ^ a b Sweney, Mark (2010-08-13). "All3Media finalises £40m acquisition of production company Optomen". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-11-18.