Channel 4 Indie Growth Fund invests in David DeHaney’s independent Proper Content

24 November 2020

Channel 4 has today announced that its Indie Growth Fund has taken a minority stake in Proper Content, the independent production company set up by David DeHaney.

Proper Content, launched by David in 2016, has a strong track record in producing engaging factual programmes.

David is an award-winning director and executive producer responsible for numerous hit programmes, such as Channel 4’s recent The School That Tried to End Racism and the Grierson award-winning Suicidal: In Our Own Words for Channel 5. 

In a career spanning more than 20 years, David’s held senior positions in some of the UK’s leading indies including Love Productions, Firecracker and Nutopia.

David’s credits include The Baby Borrowers, Boys and Girls Alone, Young Autistic and Stagestruck, Tough Young Teachers, The Woman Who Woke Up Chinese and Britain’s Gay Footballers. He also sits as a trustee on The Grierson Trust.

Caroline Murphy, Head of Channel 4’s Indie Growth Fund, said: “David has a proven track record in creating engaging factual programmes which explore important and challenging social issues. Proper Content has a very exciting future and we’re confident our investment combined with David’s creative vision will really help this production company to grow and prosper.”

David DeHaney, Proper Content’s Creative Director, said “Our passion has always been to make difficult subjects entertaining and accessible, which can genuinely make a difference to people’s lives – our other passion is to become a hot-bed of talent who want to do the same! 

“After taking part in the Indielab accelerator, we’re thrilled that the Growth Fund then recognised Proper's potential. With several projects' in development, we’re very excited to be growing our slate and team over the next few months”.

The investment in Proper Content follows the recent announcement that Channel 4’s Indie Growth Fund had taken a minority investment in the Welsh-based indie Yeti.

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About Channel 4’s Indie Growth Fund

Led by Head of Fund Caroline Murphy, Channel 4’s Indie Growth Fund provides additional support to the UK independent creative sector by investing in UK-based SMEs, taking minority stakes to help them to grow their business to the next stage. The Fund’s future strategy is focused on prioritising investment in the Nations and Regions, BAME-led and digital businesses across the UK.