BAFTA Annual Television Lecture in 2008

About Patrick McKenna

Patrick McKenna has spent his entire career in media. Ranked in the top 10 most influential people in the media industry this year by The Guardian, he has consistently been at the forefront of business finance and creativity.

Patrick started his career at Deloitte & Touche, where he ran the media group and became the company’s youngest Partner aged only 28. As Chairman and Chief Executive of The Really Useful Group he worked alongside Andrew Lloyd-Webber and led the company's £77 million delisting in 1991 to realise the international value of its portfolio of hit musicals. Following this, he teamed up with Simon Fuller and became a shareholder and Chairman of 19 Entertainment, whose successes have included The Spice Girls and Pop Idol/American Idol.

Patrick founded Ingenious Media in 1998 to bridge the worlds of media and creativity with those of business and finance. Ingenious now employs some 200 staff and has become the UK’s leading media investment and advisory company raising more than £5 billion to invest in film, television, games, music, live events and other media assets. The company provides a range of services to media businesses and is comprised of five divisions - Asset Management, Consulting, Corporate Finance, Investments and Ventures.

Ingenious has executive produced over 50 films including Night at the Museum, The Golden Compass and Stardust, a large number of television programmes including the series Kingdom and Wire in the Blood. The company has been responsible for a number of innovative deals across the media sector including Robbie Williams’ £80m recording contract with EMI and the £100m sale of Simon Fuller’s 19 Entertainment. More recently the company advised on the sale of 12 Yard to ITV, the sale of Wall to Wall, and Channel 4’s joint venture with Emap.

Patrick is Chairman of The Young Vic Theatre and a Board Member of NESTA. He chairs a number of companies operating in the media sector, including the television companies Hat Trick Productions and Whizz Kid Productions, as well as the music publisher Stage Three Music. In addition, Patrick is a member of the Film Business Academy Board (part of the Cass Business School), which offers Executive MBA programmes and business courses specialising in film.

Previously a Board Member of the British Tourist Authority and a member of the Government’s Advisory Forum on Tourism, Patrick was also on the Board of the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the encouragement of the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) and holds Honorary Doctorates from Westminster and De Montfort Universities.