Elaine Bedell

Elaine Anne Bedell is an English television producer, currently ITV's Director of Comedy and Entertainment, and the Chief Executive of the Edinburgh International Television Festival.

Bedell grew up in east London. Her sister is the novelist Geraldine Bedell. She went to a girls' grammar school in east London (formerly Essex), which became Valentines High School in 1977. She studied English at the University of Leeds, graduating in 1983.

She started her career at the BBC in 1987, producing radio programmes such as Start the Week, Midweek, Newstand and You and Yours on BBC Radio 4.

Independent media

She left the BBC in 1992 and became Head of Factual Entertainment at Tiger Aspect Productions. In 1994 she became Managing Director of Watchmaker Productions, a company she set up with Clive James and Richard Drewett. Watchmaker was responsible for Jeremy Clarkson's interview programme Clarkson (1998-2001) which was shown on BBC Two, and produced by Bedell. Watchmaker was bought by the Chrysalis Group in 1998, and she became Managing Director of Chrysalis Entertainment from 2000.

Bedell then joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2002, establishing a commercial division, Royal Shakespeare Company Enterprise Ltd - RSC Enterprise.

BBC Television

Bedell returned to the BBC as Independent Executive, where she oversaw the relationship between BBC Television and various independent production companies. She became Commissioning Editor for Features and Factual Entertainment in July 2005. She commissioned The One Show in 2006, and in Factual Entertainment she worked with Emma Swain, Adam Kemp, Richard Klein and Peter Horrocks. In November 2006 she became the Controller of BBC Entertainment, Multi-Platform Commissioning, working with Jana Bennett, the Director of BBC Vision launched in November 2006.

ITV Network

She joined ITV as Director of Entertainment and Comedy in March 2009.

Bedell is married to Clive Brill, who like her was formerly a BBC radio drama producer. She met her husband in a school play of War and Peace, playing Natasha and Pierre. The couple married in 1990 and have a son (born 1991) and daughter.