top of page

WHO'S WHO AT WAKA...

 

 

WARREN MEYLER

Founder & Exec Producer

Director/Producer/Comedy Writer

Hailing from County Wexford, Warren Meyler is a TV Producer, Director & Comedy Script Writer with a string of successful programming under his belt including Katherine Lynch's 4 hit RTE series Working Girls, WonderWomen, Single Ladies and Wagons Den as well as directing & producing sell out nationwide tours, a chart topping comedy DVD and most recently hit RTE pop-doc From Boom to Maternity. How it all began…Long time friends and collaborators, Warren and Katherine first met in 1998 when they joined forces to produce the winning entry for infamous urban cultural event “The Alternative Miss Ireland”. The writing duo made the leap to TV in 2007 when on the strength of a small cameo by Katherine in Network Two’s “The Unbelievable Truth” they were commissioned to write and produce their first TV series, a long time dream come true for them both. Entitled “Working Girls” & populated by a menagerie of larger than life characters, the show intertwined the fantastical lives of a collection of slightly weird yet strangely lovable characters. Airing in January 2008 on RTE 2 the largely unpublicized show attracted a whopping average of 300,00 viewers per episode, a staggering number by any standards, let alone a relatively unknown comedian. Fresh from the success of Working Girls came the pairs second commission for RTE, the hugely successful Katherine Lynch's WonderWomen, a six part mocu-soap following the intertwining lives of a somewhat unusual yet highly identifiable modern Irish women. The series was another ratings smash and was quickly followed by a one off Christmas special which pulled in over a quarter of a million viewers Stephens night, a slot which is infamously hard to crack. A third series, “Single Ladies” was commissioned for Autumn 2009 and debuted with an audience of 380,000 viewers (31 percent audience share), an incredible achievement for a 10.50pm time slot. And to top off an already amazing year Katherine’s first live DVD hit the number one spot in the Christmas charts. After a 25 date sell out nationwide tour in 2009, playing to over 25,000 people in it was time to return to TV but this time in the form of a comedy studio entitled Wagons Den, a tongue in cheek showbiz review presented by one of Katherine’s most popular characters, Sheila Sheikh, a woman more low rent than a one bed in Swords and Big Brother Super-Host, Mr. Brian Dowling. The show was an instant hit with two series and a hugely successful Christmas Special commissioned in 2011. Produced by Warren and Katherine's own production company WAKA TV the show’s tongue-in-cheek irreverence for political correctness and left of field attitude hit a chord with Irish audiences and succeeded in pushing boundaries regarding comedy topics explored, dialogue and characterization. On paper it was always going to be a hard sell to persuade the national broadcaster to green light characters that included a closet Lesbian football couch, a fame hungry Gypsy and a drug dealing sex addict who sold her own children to their Egyptian father but RTE, to their credit, recognised “the funny”, took a punt and the rest as they say is history. ABOUT MEFrom an early age I was obsessed with comedy, everything from Black Adder, Kenny Everett and Victoria Wood right through to modern day classics such as Nighty Night, Summer Heights High, The Royal Family, Kath & Kim and the incredible Katherine Tate and Little Britain. Bringing an idea to life, seeing it through from a notion to a fully formed program is my passion.I am a self confessed perfectionist and a workaholic and If I have an idea my head I do everything in my power to successfully bring it to life. I thrive on working with talented people, getting the best out of them and in turn, them from me. In my experience television is a hard graft, comedy being one of the most challenging mediums. When it goes right it goes very right, but when it goes wrong, it is unforgiving. You need the ability to visualize your audience, know what they look like and what they want. If you don’t know who you are making programs for in my book you’re in trouble. You need the passion to keep creating yet the ability to adapt to continually changing trends and audience tastes. It’s about making the best program you can, getting the best bang for every buck of your budget and all things going to plan, capturing the publics imagination and most importantly, keeping it Having produced & written four consecutive EFP/Location productions, two studio series and a recent POP DOC I have gained a huge amount of knowledge and experience. I have been hands in just about every aspect of program making - scripting, directing, producing, voiceover writing, casting, productions scheduling, budgeting, accounting, editing, conceptualizing, costuming and of course the prerequisite tea making. I am not afraid to roll me sleeves up and get involved although I am very respectful when necessary where the boundaries of my brief lie and those of others starts I am exceptionally hands-on, paper editing every second of footage and working with the editor throughout the editing process. From promos, concepts, character creation and storyboarding. I have primarily worked as Director, Producer & Writer but I have also acted as line producer for our last three series

KATHERINE LYNCH

Founder & Exec Producer

 

Actress/Comedian/Writer/Producer

 5 years and 7 hit TV series under her belt. But who is Katherine Lynch….Let’s start with a few facts about Katherine Lynch: 7 smash hit RTE comedy series in row, a number one Christmas DVD and a string of sell out shows, not bad at all for a wee girl from Mohill, County Leitrim.From an early age, Katherine, a grand-niece of Patrick Kavanagh, loved the arts, having appeared alongside her three siblings in many a local production, play or sketch for Scor Na nOg, more often than not penned by her late father Tom Lynch, himself a great writer and whit. Even though she had been surrounded by poetry, writing and acting all through her younger years, Katherine didn't initially set out to be an actress or comedian, rather opting to train as a hairdresser in style capital of the West...Longford! But the novelty of living in a bed sit and smelling of peroxide soon wore off and Miss Lynch soon hung up her hairspray and crimping tongs, bid fair well to Longford and took the bus to Dublin. An eclectic mix of jobs followed including managing an antiques shop, working as a reflexologist, running a market stall and working as a waitress but Katherine finally set her heart on becoming an actress and enrolled in The Bull Alley Theatre Training Company. Then in 2007 Katherine made the leap to TV when she was spotted as a talking head in the guise of Singing Bernie Walsh on RTE's late night comedy "The Unbelievable Truth". On the back of this Katherine was commissioned to make her very own comedy pilot, "Hiace to Heaven", the hit mocumentary series which chartered the tumultuous travels of full time Gypsy & part time “Country ‘n Irish” Carpet-Crooner Singing BERNIE WALSH. With little or no promotion the show was an instant hit with viewers attracting a staggering 31% share with next to knowadvertising. Two more shows followed, each pulling in more viewers than the last. On the back of this success RTE commissioned Katherine’s first six-parter,“WonderWomen”, a series which would reprise the characters or Bernie Walsh and Sheila Chic from Katherine’s first outing, but would also introduce LIZ HURLEY, the crew cut, dim witted, sexually befuddled “stay-at-home-daughter” from Mohill, County Leitrim. Liz and the series went on to be a big hit with viewers with an average audience of 30% share. Becoming the highest rating RTE 2 home grown comedy of the year. A hit Christmas special was the icing on the cake for what was an amazing year for Katherine.Then in 2009 Work began writing & producing a new series, this time entitled, Katherine Lynch’s “Single Ladies”. Broadcast in November of that year, episode one pulled in another eye-watering audience share, with 37% share tuning in to watch episode 1. In 2010 Katherine put TV on hold, embarking on a sell nationwide tour, playing 14 nights in Dublin's Vicar Street and playing to over 25,000 people in total. The show was released on DVD and went on to become the number one comedy DVD in Ireland that Christmas.Then in 2011 she returned to television but this time in the form of a comedy studio entitled “Wagons Den”, a tongue in cheek showbiz review presented by one of Katherine’s most popular characters, Sheila Sheikh and Big Brother Super-Host, Mr. Brian Dowling. The show was an instant hit with an average audience share of 25%. Mrs. Merton meets E-News, the series has run for four hugely successful series with a raft of Irish and international guests feeling the wrath of SheilaSheikhs caustic tongue and of course the wonderful Brian Dowling playing good cop, well most of the time! Populated by a host of Katherine's larger than life creations, sometimes naughty and often spontaneous, Katherine's TV and live shows intertwine the fantastical lives of Katherine's menagerie of slightly weird yet strangely lovable characters. Lynch's left of field attitude and playful disregard for political correctness has so far done her proud. Her shows have focused on those elements of society that are often marginalized and in turn unrepresented in comedy. It’s Katherine’s philosophy that comedy should always be inclusive; to exclude any one section of our culture from the joke is in itself discrimination. From the word go all Katherine Lynch strived for in her career was to make people laugh and she has undoubtedly achieved her goal. Having broken though in a primarily male dominated world of Irish comedy, Katherine has managed to strike a chord with Irish audiences, establishing a loyal fan-base and a successful career in an industry where longevity is far from the norm. It’s been quite a 5 years for Miss Lynch who hits our screens once again in 2014 with The Centre, a BAI funded six part comedy series for RTE 2.

bottom of page