Pathé UK Hires Former BBC Films & World Productions Execs As Part Of English-Language Drive

Pathé UK has announced the appointments of Emma Luffingham as Creative Director TV, and Claudia Yusef as Creative Director Film as it continues to grow it team.

The hires come two months after Ben Browning, former FilmNation president of motion pictures, joined French mini-major Pathé as the London-based Co-CEO of Pathé UK and the company’s President of Global Film.

Working alongside TV-focused Co-CEO Faith Penhale and reporting to Ardavan Safaee, Chairman of Paris-based Pathé Films, his appointment was part of a bid to relaunch Pathé’s English-language film business, a development first reported by Deadline last May.

The fresh appointments of Luffingham and Yusef see Pathé double down on its ambitions in global film and television, and are another step in the French studio’s push into English-language production. Both will report into Browning and Penhale.

“Emma and Claudia both have deep creative relationships and career track records which speak to their immense talent. Their hires signal the scale of our ambition in the UK and we can’t wait to see what’s to come as we write this next chapter of Pathé,” said the co-CEOs.

Luffingham previously served as Head of Development at ITV-owned World Productions for six years, overseeing the company’s drama slate and most recently serving as Executive Producer on acclaimed series including Malpractice (S2) and Karen Pirie (S2) for ITV, and Showtrial (S2)for the BBC.

With a career spanning more than 15 years, she began in BBC Drama, script editing shows including BAFTA winning Three Girls before a stint at Tiger Aspect. In her new role at Pathé she will work closely with Penhale and will be responsible for expanding and shaping a growing slate of premium television projects.

Yusef was most recently a commissioning executive at BBC Film, where she Executive Produced a number of films including: In Camera, Naqqash Khalid’s debut feature; The End We Start From, Mahalia Belo’s debut feature, written by Alice Birch; The Outrun directed by Nora Fingscheidt, based on the best-selling memoir by Amy Liptrot; and Aneil Karia’s Hamlet, starring Riz Ahmed and Morfydd Clark.

Over the past two years Pathé UK has positioned itself as a major player in prestige television building a slate of premium projects, working with many of the most sought-after British screenwriters and creatives.

The recent relaunch of Pathé UK’s film activity creates a platform for global growth backed by the legacy and continued success of the French production and exhibition giant established in 1896.