Funmi Olutoye | Lead Producer & Video Journalist

Funmi Olutoye | Lead Producer & Video Journalist

London-based producer, director, writer and multimedia journalist Funmi Olutoye is clearly a people person, someone who just loves to engage and listen to others. This fascination has led Funmi to her profession, inspired by her 15-year-old self’s love for the work of presenter Kate Thornton on The X Factor and the amazing opportunities that job provided to meet a wider mix of people than most.

Researching Thornton’s past, Funmi discovered she had trained and worked as a journalist and so followed suit, first with an English degree and then an NCTJ postgrad. A variety of journalistic internships followed before she landed one of just four places on ITV News’ traineeship programme in 2012, where she learned to be a producer. She stepped away from ITV for a few years, working as a video journalist at local station London Live, before returning as a freelancer for ITV Daytime in 2017 where she now works full-time. As someone who can script, produce, self-shoot, edit, direct and present, Funmi’s multitalented work has featured across three out of four of ITV Daytime’s main shows, This Morning, Lorraine, and Good Morning Britain, including creating the Black History Makers segments (2022) for the latter. Most recently, she’s ventured into the world of entertainment as one of the producers behind the reboot of The Big Breakfast.

Funmi is the first person from daytime television to become a BAFTA Breakthrough.

In their own words...

“The number one reason why I wanted to enter TV journalism was to meet as many people from different walks of life as possible. I’ve found that the more people you speak to the more your horizons broaden and you understand them better.”

“I thought [BAFTA Breakthrough] might really help open doors and allow me to meet people, not just from news, daytime and live TV but other genres, too... If I can finish this year with a great mentor and a sense of direction of what to do next, that will be a successful year for me. I’d like someone who sees my vision of where I want to go, so I can explore opportunities outside of what I’ve already been doing... I would love to do more features, both live and pre-recorded, and I’d love to direct more shoots.”

Funmi works at Good Morning Britain full-time but is currently on secondment to Lorraine.

Funmi’s breakthrough credit is the unscripted television series of films Black History Makers (Good Morning Britain)

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