Award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and podcaster Louis Theroux is reportedly seeking to hire someone to lead a newly-created podcast division within his production company Mindhouse.
The new chief of the production company’s podcast division will oversee the production of a new slate of podcasts focused on narrative documentary series, with many already in development, according to a report by Broadcast Now.
Mindhouse, which was co-founded by Theroux alongside film producer Arron Fellows and television director Nancy Strang in 2019, is known for producing a number of TV documentaries, as well as talent-driven podcasts such as BBC Radio 4’s Rylan: How To Be A Manand the British Podcast Award-winning Grounded with Louis Theroux.
“Our intention is to make even more [podcasts] and to establish a new department to run alongside our television productions,” said Fellows, who also acts as creative director for Mindhouse. “Podcasts offer something a little different to television given their intimacy and variety and we’re excited to dive into the audio space.”
“But we also see an opportunity to build on our talent relationships and to potentially test-drive ideas for TV.”
Mindhouse’s portfolio of TV productions includes Channel 4’s Sex Actually with Alice Levine, Sky original The Bambers: Murder at the Farm, and an upcoming Lockerbie documentary series premiering at the end of 2023, on the bombing of Pan Am flight 103.
The news follows the premiere of Theroux’s new Spotify-exclusive show, The Louis Theroux Podcast, which launched its first episode on Monday this week featuring Shania Twain as the first guest. The podcast is also produced by Mindhouse and will feature the journalist in conversation with “fascinating figures” across the globe.
In an interview with Spotify, Theroux said that as a journalist, he prefers working in live media like podcasting and TV over writing, because it gives him more creative freedom and is less “onerous”.
“I think different stories lend themselves better to different kinds of treatment,” said Theroux. “For a fascinating individual who is distinguished in their field, who doesn’t have a lot of time, to allow me to tag along with them, clearly a podcast is going to be a great space, because over the course of two hours we can get very deep into their life, their mental processes, and their artistry.
