Former Made in Chelsea and Perfect Match exec Sarah Dillistone will lead PSB’s fledgling creative unit

Channel 4 has named reality maestro Sarah Dillistone as creative lead of its nascent in-house production unit.

Dillistone is returning to her native UK after six years to take on the role, which is based in C4’s Horseferry Road HQ.

She will take charge of setting up a development team, as well as establishing key business functions and capabilities that will focus on creative success to drive commercial growth for the PSB, as well as developing new formats across the UK with international appeal to build a catalogue of IP.

The in-house production business will be able to pitch to C4 and other broadcasters, with production anticipated to start by early 2027.

In LA, Dillistone established herself as a trusted executive development producer and showrunner, executive producing Kinetic Content’s hits Perfect Match, The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On, The Ultimatum: Queer Love (all for Netflix) and Fulwell Entertainment’s docuseries Paris & Nicole: The Encore for Peacock.

She previously developed a strong pedigree in the UK industry for her work in building the structured reality space.

Most notably, she launched and executive produced Monkey Kingdom (now UTAS UK) titles Made in Chelsea (E4), for which she won a Bafta, and The Real Housewives of Cheshire (ITV). She also spent several years at Lime Pictures, working on its unscripted titles, including The Only Way is Essex (ITV).

Dillistone was also an entertainment commissioning editor at C4, where her titles included E4’s revival of Shipwrecked (Fizz/Motion Content Group) and Flirty Dancing (Second Star).

She has dabbled in podcasts, exec producing former TOWIE star Lydia Bright and her family’s structured reality podcast The Brights, produced by content agency Somethin’ Else in 2018.

Her notable credentials in reality and entertainment align with C4’s intention to initially focus on creating formats in the fact-ent, reality and entertainment genres.

The creative unit she leads will have clear operational separation with reporting lines and management distinct from C4 commissioning to ensure robust and fair access to commissions for indies, and she will sit physically apart from the commissioning teams. The PSB is also increasing its indie quota from 25% to 35% from this year.

Dillistone said: “I’m incredibly excited to be stepping into this role at such a pivotal moment for Channel 4. The channel has been a defining part of my career, so it feels especially meaningful to return and help shape what comes next, while continuing the relationships I’ve built across the US and international markets. I’m keen to work closely with an ambitious team to develop bold, distinctive programming that resonates in the UK and beyond.”

C4 interim chief executive Jonathan Allan hailed Dillistone’s “amazing track record of transforming unscripted businesses and creating some of the most iconic formats of a generation”. He added: “I could not think of a better person to build our creative production capabilities and diversify our revenues.”

Dillistone’s appointment puts an end to a search that commenced in May last year, when C4 first unveiled its plans for IP ownership as part of its Fast Forward strategy to increase its revenue streams.

The broadcaster’s IP plan is made up of in-house production and the launch of the Creative Investment Fund, which made its first acquisition in September in the form of Glasgow-based indie Firecrest Films.