Todd Abbott.
The ABC has officially announced the appointment of Todd Abbott as head of comedy, succeeding Rick Kalowski who departed the broadcaster in February.
Abbott joined the ABC in July from Guesswork Television, where he was creative director. He has worked with the ABC previously on shows like Rosehaven, Frayed and The Weekly with Charlie Pickering.
Most recently for Guesswork, Abbott produced Stan’s pandemic stand-up special, the Australian Lockdown Comedy Festival, and a series of one-hour comedy specials for Amazon Prime Video, including comedians Celia Pacquola, Judith Lucy, Lano & Woodley, Tom Walker and Dilruk Jayasinha.
Abbott’s other credits include The Dream with Roy & HG, Please Like Me, a reimagining of Geoffrey Robertson’s Hypotheticals and Ten’s reboot of Rove, Judith Lucy’s Spiritual Journey and Micallef Tonight.
At the ABC, he will lead the commissioning and creative execution of comedy programs across multiple platforms.
ABC head of drama, entertainment and Indigenous content Sally Riley said: “The ABC prides itself on its strong history of commissioning ground-breaking comedy and innovative storytelling. Todd epitomises these qualities across his work and dedicates himself to stories that resonate with a power of distinction and voice.
“His approach to storytelling is as passionate as ours and he is tireless in supporting local creatives who express humour, honesty and heart in equal measure.”
Abbott said the role was a “once-in-a-lifetime privilege”.
“The ABC is the rare broadcaster that has consistently nurtured Australian voices in comedy and I’m looking forward to helping to support as many of those voices as I can.”