Hot Shots 2023: Kaio Grizzelle

“Kaio Grizzelle personifi es coolness,” reckons Channel 4 head of digital Sacha Khari.

Grizzelle certainly brought cred to the launch of digital brand Channel 4.0, having been one of the founders of long-form lifestyle YouTube channel Kyra TV, launching shows such as travel series Greatness and cooking format Bad Canteen.

At 25, Grizzelle was creative director of Kyra’s weekly series PAQ, a celebration of the creative side of men’s fashion, exploring issues such as gender neutrality and black beauty, and challenging macho stereotypes. The show helped Kyra grow its international subscribers to 780,000 and amass 90 million views of its videos, and Grizzelle instigated commercial partnerships with brands from Calvin Klein, Gucci and Ralph Lauren to TK Maxx.

C4 headhunted Grizzelle for his original thinking and natural instinct to go beyond the mainstream TV landscape – two tenets central to Channel 4.0’s mission to translate the channel brand to a hard-to-reach generation of young viewers.

Khari hails Grizzelle’s “remarkable track record of bangers”, including Wall of Productions’ breakout C4.0 quiz format Harry Pinero’s Worst In Class, which scooped a Broadcast Digital Award nomination for Best Entertainment Programme.

“Kaio is one of the sharpest and most impressive execs working across the digital landscape,” says Khari. “His creative take is unique, youthful and important.”

Grizzelle takes huge pride in representing the broadcaster on diversity and digital, and has shared his insights with the YouTube Black Voices Fund Class of 2022 and on industry panels.