August 15th, 2006
BBC Books’ Editor joins Metrostar

Stuart Cooper, Senior Commissioning Editor at BBC Books, is moving to Metrostar to head up their publishing activities.

Cooper managed the BBC’s best-selling range of Doctor Who fiction and non-fiction. His other recent successes include Coast, Grumpy Old Men: The Secret Diary and Balderdash & Piffle.

Metrostar, the brand licensing agency formed in 2004 by ex BBC Worldwide Marketing Director Claire Potter and management consultant Steve Deakin Davies, is working on publishing projects for a number of high-profile TV brands including The Kumars at No 42, Spooks and Life On Mars.

Metrostar has started working with independent producers to develop book ideas. It then finds writers and designers and creates proposals which make decision-making for publishers straight forward. Potter, Metrostar’s Managing Director, believes there is further untapped potential in TV-related publishing and sees Cooper’s appointment as key to unlocking that.

She explains, “Publishers want to know what the book will be like, but TV producers often feel it’s the publishers’ responsibility to come up with the idea – result - lots of unpublished TV books. Creating fully-developed publishing proposals makes an enormous difference to the number and level of offers for our clients’ brands and with Stuart’s help we will accelerate that.”

She continued, “Stuart has wonderful experience, creativity and an enthusiasm for telly which our clients will love. We are completely thrilled that he is coming to Metrostar.”

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Contact Claire Potter, Managing Director, Metrostar, 07989 940181

Notes to Editors:

Metrostar
Metrostar specialises in helping TV companies to generate new revenue streams by licensing their programme brands into consumer products formats. Metrostar also creates and manages web shops which sell TV programme merchandise.

Metrostar’s clients include Hat Trick Productions, Kudos Film and Television and Eye Film & Television.

The programme brands Metrostar represents include ‘Have I Got News For You’, ‘The Kumars at No 42’, ‘Father Ted’, ‘Homes Under The Hammer’, ‘Spooks’, ‘Hustle’, ‘Life On Mars’, ‘Eggheads’, ‘Most Haunted’, ‘Celebrity Poker Club’, ‘Derek Acorah’s Ghost Towns’ and ‘The Secret of Eel Island’.

Publishing projects include : ‘Most Haunted’ The Official Behind-the-Scenes Guide (Penguin, July 2005), ‘Help Yourself with The Kumars’ (Orion, October 2006), ‘Life On Mars’ The Official Guide (Simon & Schuster, November 2006) and ‘Spooks’ Behind-the-Scenes (Orion, September 2006)

Claire Potter
Claire's background is in brand management. After completing her law degree, Claire joined Unilever's graduate training scheme with Brooke Bond Foods where she led the team which launched ‘Chicken Tonight’ cooking sauce in the UK.

She then held senior marketing positions with Golden Wonder and Ladbrokes before joining BBC Worldwide as UK Marketing Director for their combined publishing businesses. Whilst there she worked on TV brands as diverse as ‘Teletubbies’, ‘Delia Smith’, ‘Top Gear’, ‘Only Fools and Horses’, ‘Walking with Dinosaurs’ and ‘Gardeners' World’.

She left the BBC to join the Guardian Media Group as Marketing & Product Development Director of their recruitment web site, Workthing. In 2004, she formed Metrostar with Steve Deakin Davies. Her passion for brands and consumer understanding underpins Metrostar's planning processes.
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