Hot Shots 2024: Kat Buckle

Kat Buckle is one of the unsung heroes behind Channel 4 comedy Big Boys. In 2017, having just become one of Curtis Brown’s youngest agents, she spotted a 22-year-old Fringe performer called Jack Rooke.

Signing him as one of her first clients, she took his stage show Good Grief to Radio 4. She would go on to steer him towards a Breakthrough Brit nod, and navigate the book-to-screen journey of his memoir Cheer The F***Up, which formed the basis of his RTS Award-winning C4 show.

Other talents secured by Buckle include Emma Sidi, star of Pls Like and Starstruck, Succession writer Jamie Carragher and director Isabelle Sieb (Vigil; The Devil’s Hour).

She also brokered an exclusive deal with Spotify for Tolly T and Audrey, the duo behind The Receipts podcast, and ushered in playwright (and fellow Hot Shot) Emma Dennis-Edwards’ screenwriting career in the writers’ rooms of Champion and Boarders, and as sole writer on C4 single drama Consent.

Buckle joined Curtis Brown as an intern, working with the likes of actors Tom Holland, Cush Jumbo and Iwan Rheon at pivotal moments of their careers.

Later, covering maternity leave, Buckle helped broker the TV rights for Adam Kay’s This Is Going To Hurt, as well as the writer’s showrunner role on the Sister-produced BBC1 drama.

Amanda Davis, who signed Buckle as an agent, credits her with expanding the department’s roster with writer-performers and working in new areas from podcasting to live shows. “It was clear from the beginning that Kat has a distinctive taste and agent style, with an ability to identify fresh and diverse talent,” says Davis.