Radio 1 producer joins indie Folded Wing

Producer Paul Thomas is leaving BBC Radio 1 after more than 10 years to oversee output for independent production company Folded Wing and manage its digital projects.

Paul won the BBC’s Best Technical Sound of 2011 Award for his documentary on the Burning Man Festival.

He’ll take on the role of Editor of Sound, Digital & Production at Folded Wing from next month.

Karen Pearson, director and founder of Folded Wing said: “I’m so happy and excited that Paul is joining the Folded Wing team. His years of experience, specialist knowledge and digital expertise will be a huge help across all of our programmes and projects in 2012. Maintaining the high quality of our shows is so important, across all platforms, both digital and traditional.”

Before joining Radio 1 in 2001, Paul worked at stations including Kiss 100 where he was Executive Producer of specialist output and also presented the late night Chill Out Zone show.

At Radio 1 he’s produced shows including John Peel, Jo Whiley, Pete Tong and Tim Westwood – and managed outside broadcasts from Ibiza, Glastonbury and the Electric Proms. He also set up the station’s visualisation department in 2009 and has worked as a digital producer for Radio 2 and 6 Music.

Paul Thomas said: “Folded Wing is a really exciting company and very much at the forefront of the future of radio. I have huge respect and admiration for Karen and what she has built up so far, and I can’t wait to bring my knowledge and digital experience to the company. 2012 is going to be a big year for Folded Wing.”

Folded Wing’s weekly radio shows include Jamie Cullum for BBC Radio 2 and ‘Pick n Mix Live from the Red Bull Studio’ on NME Radio. The firm also made last year’s 7-part series on Latin music for Radio 2, presented by Gloria Estefan – and was named Indie of the Year at the 2011 Radio Production Awards.