Jon Thoday
Jon Thoday is the joint founder and Managing Director of Avalon Entertainment Ltd.
Founded in 1988, Avalon is a multi-award winning entertainment and talent management company with offices in the UK and US. The company has discovered many acts who have become household names including Frank Skinner, David Baddiel, Harry Hill, Al Murray, Russell Howard, The Mighty Boosh, Stewart Lee, Greg Davies, Russell Kane Lee Mack,Chris Ramsay Dave Gorman, Chris Addison, Kristen Schaal and John Oliver and has an international reputation for cutting edge comedy, theatre and TV production. Thoday also manages high profile presenters Adrian Chiles, Christine Bleakley and Fiona Bruce.
In addition to Avalon Management Group, Thoday is the co-founding Managing Director of Avalon Promotions, Avalon Public Relations, Avalon Motion Pictures, and the award-winning production company, Avalon Television. He has led the expansion of the group in the USA where Avalon Television now produce the hit scripted comedy Workaholics and in the UK where the factual division or Avalon Television has produced hit shows Grumpy Old Men, Three Men in a Boat and Heir Hunters. In 2012 Avalon acquired the agency ARG from All 3 Media. Talent represented include Daniel Radcliffe, Imelda Staunton, Toby Jones, Alice Eve, and Jimmy Nesbitt.
As a producer he has been responsible for many successful shows including; the multi-BAFTA winning Harry Hill's TV Burp; the RTS and Rose d’Or winning Not Going Out; BBC Three’s highest rated entertainment show Russell Howard's Good News; Fantasy Football; That Sunday Night Show; The Frank Skinner Show; and with Steve Coogan, the double BAFTA winning The Sketch Show. He also worked with Frank Skinner and David Baddiel to produce the double number one single and football anthem "Three Lions".
He has also produced some of the largest gigs in British comedy history including Newman and Baddiel at Wembley, the first ever arena comedy show, both Al Murray and Russell Howard at the O2 Arena and the multi-award winning musical Jerry Springer – The Opera, which won all five best musical awards in London’s West End. The company has also produced seven Perrier and Edinburgh Comedy Award winning shows at the Edinburgh Festival as well as US comedian Denis Leary's iconic show No Cure For Cancer.
He is no stranger to controversy and has made headlines on a number of occasions. He negotiated Frank Skinner's £20 million pound move from the BBC to ITV and also handled Adrian Chiles and subsequently Christine Bleakley's move to ITV. Along with BBC Director General Mark Thompson, Thoday was accused of blasphemy for his role as the producer of Jerry Springer the Opera.[1] The charge was unsuccessful.[2]
Thoday is a graduate of Cambridge University and has an MA CANTAB in Natural Sciences and an MSC in Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering. He is married to Leanne Newman and has two children.