Media Masters Media Masters

Sophie Ferron is CEO of Media Ranch, an award-winning, Canadian production and distribution company, specialising in unscripted TV formats – including factual, reality/docu-reality and lifestyle. After two decades of working across production, broadcasting, distribution and business development, she launched her own venture in 2008. In this in-depth interview, Sophie recalls how working with media giant Endemol, the company behind ‘Big Brother’ and ‘The Real World’, inspired her to focus on unscripted programmes and drove her to expand the concept globally; explains why a reality show needs to leave room for cultural differences, while keeping its overall structure to achieve international success; and shares how her desire to promote the Canadian TV production industry abroad is now bearing real fruit.

Gavin Allen is executive editor-in-chief of Huawei. He joined in 2021, after nearly two decades at the BBC, taking in senior editorial roles at BBC News, including flagship programmes like ‘Question Time’. In this in-depth interview, Gavin tackles the groundless conspiracy theories levelled at the company, the real-world consequences, and the strategy for handling an unjustified reputational attack; shares lessons learnt from launching ‘Transform’ - Huawei’s thought leadership magazine covering brand development across all sectors; and takes us behind the scenes of how he has shaped the role of editor-in-chief in one of the biggest tech companies in the world, taking into account its experience in the media.

Andy Varley is founder and CEO of Insanity Group. The international talent management firm employs more than 80 people across offices in London and LA - representing the likes of artistes Tom Grennan, Joy Crookes, and presenters including Jordan North. In this in-depth interview, he recalls how winning Young Entrepreneur of the Year aged 17 gave him the confidence to grow and expand the company to represent broadcasters and content creators as well as DJs; shares how the pandemic prompted a pivot to creating subscription-based models for many of their content creators - allowing talent to work digitally rather than through in-person events; and discusses how the media industry is undergoing a revolution, and will never be the same for artists, agents or record companies.

Harry Mount is an author, journalist, and editor of The Oldie magazine. The monthly British title describes itself as a “light-hearted alternative to a press obsessed with youth and celebrity.” A former New York correspondent for The Daily Telegraph who remains a regular contributor to The Spectator, Daily Mail, and Evening Standard, he became editor of The Oldie in 2014, following the untimely death of his predecessor Alexander Chancellor. In this in-depth interview, Harry reflects on the magazine’s upcoming 30th anniversary, and how it’s “stood the test of time”, always staying true to its original aim of being “jokey, funny, cynical, and aimed predominantly at old people”; shares his surprise at how enthusiastically his readership has embraced the move to digital, with the website, app and podcast all popular; and discusses his close-up experience of working with two “Fleet Street legends”, Charles Moore and Paul Dacre - praising the former’s “meticulous” work and the latter for his “sixth sense” when selecting stories which matter to readers.

Isaac Saul is founder and editor-in-chief at Tangle News. Starting last year on Substack, the popular newsletter “brings all views of the news under one roof” and has already drawn in 40,000 daily readers and 6,000 paying subscribers. A former political reporter hailing from Pennsylvania, Isaac was named by Yahoo News as “one of the 16 people who shaped the 2016 election,” and in 2020 Forbes called him “one of the next 1,000 upstart entrepreneurs redefining the American dream.” In this in-depth interview, Isaac reflects on how starting his career at The Huffington Post was a “baptism of fire,” teaching him that “well-reasoned arguments will often be lost on readers who are already strongly wedded to the opposing view;” discusses the importance of “courting a diverse political readership,” rather than catering to only a narrow subset of the politically engaged; and shares his exciting plans for further growth - including expanding beyond the US into other countries, and even applying Tangle’s template to other topics beyond politics - such as sport and culture.

Toby Harnden is an award-winning author and veteran foreign correspondent. In 2012 he won the Orwell Prize for his book ‘Dead Men Risen’ - an account of beleaguered British soldiers fighting desperately to prevent the Taliban from seizing Afghanistan’s Helmand province. As foreign correspondent, he reported from 33 countries for The Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail and The Sunday Times, including postings in Belfast, Baghdad and Washington DC. In this in-depth interview, Toby shares the inspiration and journey behind his new book ‘First Casualty’ - which is the prime account of CIA Team Alpha in their own words - the first Americans to be dropped behind enemy lines in Afghanistan after 9/11; reflects on how a decade serving in the Royal Navy inspired him to become a foreign correspondent, and better equipped him to report on “real stuff, real people - war, blood, and guts;” and discusses why much of his work is dedicated to covering PTSD - including presenting a BBC Panorama special, with the shock revelation that more British soldiers and veterans took their own lives last year than were killed in action.