Hot Shots 2022: Tom Price

Four years after he joined Studio Lambert as an assistant producer, Tom Price has become the All3Media indie’s go-to guy for the most ambitious formats – especially those on a scale demanded by US networks and global streamers.

Take Squid Game: The Challenge – how do you make a gameshow of the hit Netflix drama that does its brutal, high-concept premise justice (without, crucially, risking life and limb)?

“Tom was unfazed by the scale of the brief and crafted an immaculately detailed final pitch presentation – in both English and Korean, working with a translator,” says Studio Lambert head of development, UK unscripted, Harry Knott. “The quality and clarity of his materials and eye for detail helped win one of television’s most sought-after prizes.”

Meanwhile, for Amazon Prime Video’s first UK unscripted dating show, Lovestruck High, Price pulled out all the stops to conjure up the immersive, nostalgic world of high-school movies, from classrooms to cheerleading classes and the all-important prom.

His ideas were core to the central premise and he produced and edited a sizzle that sampled ’90s pop culture. He also created two extensive decks, including a ‘yearbook’-style treatment of its potential cast of characters, and scouted and booked the school that would become the show’s location.

Pitch perfect

These examples are typical of Price’s thorough approach to development. He has also planned two series’ worth of routes for BBC2’s Race Across The World and run quiz run-throughs for ABC’s The Hustler.

Price has worked on other Studio Lambert shows, including Netflix’s superstar streetdance choreographer competition Dance 100 and Edge Of Paradise, in which contestants camp wild in the hope of reaching a luxury villa, and BBC1/NBC Universal’s UK and US adaptations of Dutch high-stakes psychological adventure format The Traitors.

“Tom works tirelessly on all our shows, new and returning, thinking up twists, creating inspired pitch materials and cutting the best desktop sizzles in the business,” says creative director Tim Harcourt.

Price is equally knowledgeable about obscure Dutch formats and yet-to-broadcast US cable commissions. Harcourt adds: “Tom has TV running through his veins. He’s always either watching it or thinking how it could be better.”

Price first got a taste for entertainment formats as a production and development assistant at TLC, moving on to the BBC and Primal Media, where he co-created W’s The Wave, a format with the outlandish premise of contestants wading further out to sea with each question, their pockets laden with pebbles if they get an answer wrong.

Price earned a swift promotion at Studio Lambert but remains an active mentor for new entrants to the industry, both within the company and among under-represented groups.