Alexander Lawson is a Development Manager at National Geographic, developing factual content for its television channels and Disney+. He works with producers and talent to shape new ideas, manage his slate and identify new business opportunities. Most recently, Alex developed Liberation: D-Day to Berlin, commemorating the 80th anniversary of the end of the WW2.
Throughout her career, Amanda has created, managed and delivered all aspects of production successfully for some of the world’s leading brands and organisations most notably as Head of Production Operations for ITV Sport and as Director of Production for UFC where she led all content initiatives and live broadcasts across EMEA.
Her role as Global Head of Content for Gfinity cemented her reputation as an innovative producer of esports and she was the creative lead across a multitude of high-profile contracts including F1 esports and the ePremier League.
With ambitions to utilise her extensive knowledge and experience to make a positive impact in the sport and esports sector, Amanda launched her own production business, Hang Loose Media Group in January ’22 which has already built an impressive client list and portfolio.
Andy is a versatile Executive Producer & Showrunner currently working at So Television. He is the former Head of Entertainment at Wall To Wall and has a long career as a Producer in Entertainment, Comedy and Fact. Ent. Best known for ambitious format entertainment hits like TOTAL WIPEOUT (BBC1), 101 WAYS TO LEAVE A GAMESHOW (BBC1) and LITTLE BIG SHOTS (ITV), his recent credits include MADONNA & GRAHAM (BBC1), HANNAH GADSBY’S GENDER AGENDA (Netflix US), COMEDIANS TAKING PENALTIES WITH CHLOE PETTS (YouTube), BILLIE EILISH: UP CLOSE (BBC1), IDRIS ELBA MEETS PAUL McCARTNEY (BBC1) and JENNIFER SAUNDERS’ MEMORY LANE (ITV).
Angela Ferreira is an internationally award-winning Executive Producer across entertainment, factual, drama, comedy, news and live events.
Her career spans senior leadership roles at the BBC, Channel 4, The MOBO Organisation and Banijay UK, alongside productions for ITV, Sky, Channel 5 and Reelz in the US.
At Douglas Road Productions, Angela has been responsible for a critically acclaimed slate of programmes in factual and drama including ‘Black Classical Music: The Forgotten History’, ‘Lenny Henry's Caribbean Britain’, ‘Mica Paris on Gospel’. ‘Judi Love: Black, Female and Invisible’, ‘Una Marson: Our Lost Caribbean Voice’, ‘Soon Gone: A Windrush Chronicle’, ‘My Name Is Leon’ and ITV's ‘Three Little Birds’, championing distinctive storytelling and underrepresented voices.
Angela is also a respected speaker and mentor. She serves as DEI Ambassador for Banijay Entertainment, is a Create Central Champion, guest lectures at the National Film and Television School and is a former Governor of The BRIT School. Her contribution to television has been recognised with major industry awards celebrating creative excellence, leadership and inclusion from Women in Film & TV, BFI and Black British Business Awards.
Anna Lowman is an experienced streaming exec, having worked at BBC iPlayer for over a decade before moving to ITV in 2022. Passionate about digital-first content, she has led projects across content strategy and development, digital curation, FAST channel management and more.
As part of the ITVX Editorial team, Anna also leads a portfolio of YouTube channels owned by the ITV Media & Entertainment division, and works with Commissioners on companion content for ITV's biggest shows. A huge comedy fan and advocate, prior to working in TV Anna was a columnist and reviewer at the British Comedy Guide, and a TV critic for a range of publications including The Guardian.
Ben Hough is Head of Development at BBC Studios Comedy. He recently produced a new pilot for BBC Comedy, last year made the BAFTA nominated comedy short ZONERS, and has story produced three series of undercover comedy BLACK OPS. He works in development across the comedy and drama slates at Studios. Before this, he script edited THIS IS GOING TO HURT at Sister.
Ben Wilson has been working with Tuesday’s Child as an Executive Producer and Development Executive since late 2018.
In that time he was the creative development lead and produced new formats Killer Camp (ITV2 and The CW), Apocalypse Wow (ITV2), Ghost Bus Tours (ITV2) and most recently The Fortune Hotel (ITV1).
Previously as a freelance Series Producer and Senior Development Producer Ben worked with on Release the Hounds (ITV2), Carnage (Sky One), Bigheads (ITV1), Take the Tower (ITV4) and iScream 360 (BBC Three).
Brian founded True Vision over 30 years ago to produce “films that make a difference”. The company has a strong reputation for making award-winning factual singles and short series, and has recently branched into drama with the widely acclaimed Sixth Commandment. Brian is deputy chair of both DocFest and the Watersprite Student Film Festival. He lives in Cambridge with his wife who is a professor at the university, and their two small sons.
Caitlin is the Development Producer for the Scripted team at Expectation TV and works across both Comedy and Drama. After joining the company in 2022, Caitlin went on to Script Edit James Wood’s psyhcological thriller series, Malice, for AMAZON PRIME VIDEO, starring Jack Whitehall and David Duchovny. She is also the Script Editor on Expectation’s upcoming adaptation of Frankie Boyle’s novel, Meantime, written by Frankie Boyle and Neil Webster. Meantime, starring James McAvoy and directed by Jon S. Baird, will air on SKY in 2027. Before moving into production, Caitlin worked as a Senior Agent Assistant at Curtis Brown.
Carolyn Payne is a Commissioning Editor for National Geographic, working across global development and production. Carolyn has developed, commissioned, and executive produced major premium factual series, including the EMMY winning and BAFTA nominated One Day In America franchise (from 72 Films) with titles including 9/11: One Day In America; JFK: One Day In America and Cult Massacre: One Day In Jonestown. And the EMMY winning Race Again Time franchise with titles including Tsunami: Race Against Time (Blast Films), Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time (Lightbox and Ryan Coogler’s Proximity Studios) and Chilean Mine Rescue: Race Against Time (Blast Films) and Bafta nominated In Vogue: The 90s (Raw and Vogue Studios) for Disney plus. Carolyn is the Executive Producer on Nat Geo’s docudrama Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston.
I've spent my career making popular factual and entertainment television, developing and producing shows that connect with audiences and keep them coming back. Recently, the majority of that time has been at Optomen where I'm currently Head of Factual Entertainment, overseeing a slate of shows and working in development on major pitches for streamers and UK broadcasters across factual, reality, dating and talent-led formats.
One of the highlights has been developing and executive producing Sort Your Life Out for BBC One, now in its seventh series, and watching it grow from a pilot into a multi-award-winning hit. I've also executive produced Getting Filthy Rich for ITVX, Stacey & Joe and Crafty Christmas for BBC One, all of which secured further commissions after their first series.
Before starting at Optomen, I worked across a range of entertainment and factual formats including Big Brother's Bit on the Side for Channel 4, Strictly Come Dancing and The Apprentice for BBC One, and projects for ITV with Alexander Armstrong, Emma Willis and Alan Carr.
Cimran Shah, Commissioning Editor at Channel 4 joined in 2021, commissioning across the Entertainment slate. Cimran has a particular interest in distinctive unscripted entertainment, scripted comedy and purposeful reality.
Cimran’s slate includes The Last Leg, The Great British Bake Off, Lateish with Mo Gilligan, The Big Narstie Show, 8 Out of 10 Does Countdown, Complaints Welcome, How We Forgot To Save The Planet and The Alternative Xmas Message, Prince Andrew: The Musical and Make Me Prime Minister.
Cimran has a background in news and current affairs. Prior to his time at Channel 4 Cimran was Series Producer of The Last Leg where he was nominated for two BAFTAs and won an RTS Award. Before this, he produced Question Time, Panorama, 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown and The One Show.
Claire McArdle is Co-CEO of CMG Productions, a female founded and owned production company which she launched with Rebecca Knight in 2021. The company has a particular focus on international stories, and their documentaries have appeared on Netflix, Paramount +, Sky Documentaries, ITV, Via Play and Canal + amongst others. The company’s CMG Studios division separately provides multi-genre full production services across large scale events, and high-end scripted and unscripted productions across the UK and Europe.
Prior to founding CMG, she was the Managing Director and Chief Creative Officer of football platform OTRO. In a career spanning two decades, Claire has held senior executive positions at Viacom International, Channel 4 and All3Media-owned Maverick Television, and delivered International Emmy, BAFTA, RTS and Broadcast award-winning content.
Damien Cullen is Content Operations Lead at The Football Association, and has over 20 years’ experience delivering broadcast, digital and live online content. At The FA he has played a central role in major tournament and fan-facing projects (including Lions’ Den and Lionesses Live) whilst also leading across production operations, technology, workflows, budgets, agency management and commercial delivery as its channels have gone from strength to strength.
His work focuses on bringing creative ambition and operational excellence together, using innovation, data and technology to deliver high-quality content at scale for fans, partners and broadcasters. With experience spanning not just production an platforms but also content monetisation, cloud workflows and the development of in-house creative capabilities, Damien brings a broad understanding of what makes sports content successful, from the original idea pitch through to its execution, audience impact and long-term value.
Dan Gray is Head of Programmes at BOLDPRINT STUDIOS. Dan has 20-years of experience and a strong track record of originating and delivering hit formats across all major UK networks. Most recently at Twofour, he Executive Produced award-winning BBC dating show I Kissed a Boy and developed and Executive Produced I Kissed a Girl and ITV reality competition The Heat. He has launched and grown many other returning brands including The Real Housewives (ITV and NBC) and Celebs Go Dating (Channel 4). His extensive credits also include The Circle (Channel 4), Sing On! (Netflix), Come Dine With Me (Channel 4) and The Only Way is Essex (ITV).
Dani Gordon joined Kudos in 2006 as Post Production Co-ordinator and was appointed Head of Post Production in 2019. In her current role, she works closely with the Head of Production, Executive Producers, Producers, Line Producers, and the legal team throughout the production lifecycle, from development through to final delivery. She oversees all aspects of post-production delivery for both UK and international distribution, with responsibility for budgets, schedules, technical workflows, logistics and the overall management of post-production operations.
After graduating from the University of York, Dani began her television career in 1991 as a Producer’s Assistant at Witzend Productions. She subsequently worked for the theatrical agency ICM before returning to television production, where she progressed to the role of Production Co-ordinator. During this period, she worked on a range of acclaimed drama productions, including Glasgow Kiss, The Cazalets, Bleak House, Spooks (Series 2, 3 and 5), and the first series of Hustle.
Denise Seneviratne is Commissioning Editor for Non Scripted UK Originals at 5, reporting to Chief Content Officer, Ben Frow. In her role, she is responsible for growing and shaping the broadcaster’s factual slate, driven by a passion for stories that surprise, inspire, and connect with audiences.
Her recent commissions include Diana’s Wedding Dress, Volcano, Wonders of the Moon, Wonders of the Sun, and Mysteries of the Pyramids with Dara O’Briain. She also commissioned the BAFTA nominated Endurance: Race to the Pole with Ben Fogle and Dwayne Fields, along with its follow up series Livingstone: Search for the Nile. In Natural History, her work includes two part series Killer Crocs and Hippos with Steve Backshall.
Seneviratne oversees 5’s medical output, commissioning Surgeons: A Matter of Life or Death and the recent The Operation: Changing Lives. Her True Crime slate includes Murder in the Family: The Thomas Kwan Affair, The Pelicot Trial, and The Killer Makes a Call, which launched the channel’s “Streamer First” model.
In addition, she manages popular factual brands including the long running hit The Yorkshire Vet, its spin off The Greens, and newcomers such as Yorkshire’s Poshest Hotel. She has also been instrumental in growing the popular Bargain Loving Brits franchise.
Before joining Paramount in 2019, Seneviratne worked as a Producer/Director on landmark series including Undercover Boss and Embarrassing Illnesses for Channel 4, and Fat Club and Real Lives for ITV. As a Series Editor and Executive Producer, she launched Paul O’Grady’s Little Heroes for ITV, Michael Mosley’s Meet the Humans, Sun, Sex and Suspicious Parents for the BBC, Reverse Missionaries for BBC Two, and Channel 4’s Secret Life of 4 Year‑Olds.
Derek launched his label Wild Mercury after eleven years as an Executive Producer at Kudos. Their recent credits include THE RIG (Series 1 & 2), miniseries FEAR, both for Amazon Prime, and THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT for BBC1, which won BAFTA and RTS Awards for Best Limited Series in 2024. Wild Mercury’s first production was TROY: FALL OF A CITY for BBC and Netflix.
While at Kudos, Derek was Executive Producer on two seasons of the Emmy-winning THE HOUR, cult hit LIP SERVICE, TSUNAMI: THE AFTERMATH, PLUS ONE, FROM THERE TO HERE, the BAFTA-winning mini-series OCCUPATION, and three seasons of BAFTA-nominated HUMANS, which became Channel 4’s highest-rated original drama in 23 years. He also developed and Executive Produced CAPITAL, a 3-part mini-series, which won the International Emmy Award for Best Mini Series in 2016. Before this, Derek was a producer at Granada, where he developed and produced the BAFTA award-winning serial SEX TRAFFIC.
Duncan Gray started his career at youth TV pioneers Planet 24, where he developed The Big Breakfast for Charlie Parsons, before going on to series edit The Word and executive produce The Big Breakfast.
In 1998 he moved into the mainstream, joining Granada as Head of Entertainment, where he launched Celebrity Stars In Their Eyes, Popstars: The Rivals and Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.
As VP of Alternative Series and Specials for ABC in Los Angeles, he executive produced Jimmy Kimmel Live! for three years before returning to the UK to serve as Controller of Entertainment at ITV, where he commissioned Britain’s Got Talent, and later at Sky, where he commissioned A League of Their Own and Got to Dance.
Duncan relocated Twenty Six 03 to Gateshead in 2019.
Eamon Hardy is an executive producer at Brinkworth TV, London with an extensive range of experience across UK and US broadcasting. Formally a creative leader of BBC factual, current affairs and documentaries as commissioning editor, executive producer and film maker.
Background as a distinguished producer, director and investigative journalist at the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV with a reputation for making popular and accessible films while retaining the highest journalistic standards.
As BBC Commissioning Editor and executive producer for current affairs and documentaries, commissioned many distinctive and award-winning films and investigations. Returned to production as Executive Producer working across several genres including history, arts, drama and business.
Ed Taylor is an award-winning television executive with more than 20 years of experience creating, developing and producing factual programming for broadcasters and streaming platforms in the UK and internationally. Throughout his career he has built a reputation for identifying original ideas, securing high profile talent and delivering ambitious, story driven series across a wide range of genres, including history, adventure, features, access documentaries and specialist factual.
Ed held senior creative leadership positions at ITV Studios and Paramount before founding Honey Bee in 2020, an independent production company focused on factual storytelling. Since its launch, the company has delivered acclaimed programmes for broadcasters including HBO Max, ITV, Channel 5, Sky History, Reelz and other international partners.
Alongside his production work, Ed hosts The Secret Diary of a Producer, a podcast that offers an honest, behind the scenes look at the television industry. Through conversations with leading producers, commissioners and creatives, the series explores how successful programmes are developed, commissioned and made, providing practical insights for both established professionals and those looking to build a career in television.
Eileen is an award-winning Showrunner and Executive Producer at the BBC Studios Science Unit. She has a track record in leading teams to create high-rating, entertaining and accessible factual shows with recent projects including the award-winning specialist factual series The Secret Genius of Modern Life, the hit daytime health show Just One Thing and BBC heritage brand The Sky at Night.
Elaine Hackett began her career as a print journalist before moving into radio and television at the BBC. After a successful tenure, she joined Bazal TV and played a key role in its evolution into Endemol, where she ran Brighter Pictures and oversaw major brands including Big Brother. As a member of both the UK Management and Creative Boards, Elaine helped drive new global formats and business growth.
In 2008, Elaine became the first female board member to leave Endemol to found independent production company Crackit TV, focused on intelligent, tabloid programming. Crackit’s debut series, The Dark Side of Fame with Piers Morgan (BBC One), won a BAFTA.
Under Elaine's leadership, Crackit has produced thousands of hours of content for major broadcasters, recent commissions include Supercruising Life at Sea (C4) Social Media Murders (ITV), Hunting Britain's Bedroom Predators (C5/Paramount) plus a long list of returning series including A&E After Dark (S7) & Casualty 24/7 (S11).
As well as creating and producing compelling formats, crime documentaries and observational series, Crackit’s programming sells to over 34 countries globally.
Elaine Nankervis is an Emmy Award-winning production and operations leader with more than 20 years' experience delivering world-class sports broadcasting, documentaries, live events and premium factual programming. She has held senior production leadership roles across major broadcasters, streamers and production companies, leading complex, high-value productions for organisations including Netflix, DAZN, Warner Bros. Discovery, BBC, Amazon, FIFA and UEFA.
Currently Production Lead for The Rest is Football for Netflix and Goalhanger's 2026 FIFA World Cup coverage, Elaine has built a reputation for combining editorial excellence with outstanding operational leadership, overseeing large-scale budgets, international teams and innovative production workflows. Previous roles include Head of Production & Operations at Noah Media Group, where she led the delivery of award-winning films, documentaries and major international sporting events.
An Emmy Award winner, Broadcast Sport Award winner and Sports Journalism Award winner, Elaine is passionate about championing excellence across the industry. She has also served as a Broadcast Sport Awards judge for five consecutive years, bringing extensive expertise in production, innovation, leadership and storytelling to the judging process.
Emily is a Comedy Commissioning Executive at Sky Studios, where her slate includes the BAFTA winning Mr Bigstuff. She joined Sky in May 2025 from Boffola Pictures (Ann Droid, Am I Being Unreasonable), where she was Head of Development for three years, and led a broad slate of comedy and comedy drama titles.
Before Boffola, Emily was in the BBC Comedy Commissioning team in a role dedicated to developing the next generation of British talent. Her commissions include the award-winning series Zen School of Motoring for BBC Two, and the inaugural Festival of Funny shorts which brought 15 films from emerging filmmakers to BBC iPlayer. She was also a Development Executive on Rye Lane for BBC Film.
Emily Fielden is Head of Talent at Studio Lambert where she has worked for over 10 years, overseeing the recruitment of unscripted off-screen talent. Before joining Studio Lambert Emily ran her own digital production company. Prior to that, she worked at RDF Television, where she developed and directed one-off docs and formats, including Shipwrecked and Faking It.
Faiza Tovey’s career spans almost 30 years, she has worked across many award winning and critically acclaimed productions, most recently ITV’s groundbreaking Mr Bates VS the Post Office. Other notable productions include: The Bill, Housewife 49, Eastenders, Marple and Poirot, Hunderby, Camping, Uncle, I Am which showcased powerful female-centric narratives and Ralph and Katie, which in line with the heart of the show put disability and diversity at the forefront of production. Film work includes: Alpha Papa written and starring Steve Coogan and Alan Bennet’s The Lady in the Van starring the late Dame Maggie Smith.
From a Runner, Secretary, Co-ordinator, Production Manager, Line Producer and Producer, Faiza has a wealth of experience across multiple roles and a thorough understanding of every element of Production. Her innate organisational skills and people management laid a strong foundation for her career culminating in her Head of Production Role at ITV Studios Drama.
Genevieve heads up Serious Kids, a London based international distribution and finance company, which represents the worldwide rights to a portfolio of high quality I.P’s from Oscar, BAFTA and Emmy Award winning producers such as Studio Ghibli and See Saw as well as up-and-coming studios.
She has worked in the kids IP sector for 35 years and has launched many successful kids programmes into the international market over her career including Operation Ouch!, Team Nuggets, The Sound Collector, The Ghastly Ghoul, Angelo Rules, Total Drama Island and Ronja, the Robber’s Daughter. Most recently the company has invested in Lupus Films’ Mog’s Bad Thing and Miyu’s Claudy. Genevieve is also the Executive Producer of Best & Bester, Tee & Mo, Messy Goes to Okido, Horrible Science, Angelo Rules and many more. She is a serial entrepreneur and was also the founder of Cake.
Greg has been Commissioning Editor at 5 since February 2010 and is responsible for commissioning both Scripted and Unscripted UK originals.
Greg’s unscripted commissions include Cruising with Jane McDonald, which won the channel its first BAFTA. He has also been responsible for RTS Award-winning series Ben Fogle: New Lives In The Wild, The Yorkshire Vet and Jane McDonald & Friends. His commissions range from hard-hitting access-based docs such as Coastguard: Search and Rescue and popular access pieces like Reuben Owen: Life In The Dales to iconic celebratory tributes such as The Two Ronnies: Unseen, Joanna Lumley – In My Own Words and Stock, Aitken, Waterman: Legends of Pop.
In scripted, Greg commissioned 3 series of Suspects – the critically acclaimed improvised crime drama, 4-part thrillers Lie With Me, Riptide, Heat and The Imposter, the third chapter of The Teacher trilogy and the brand new 6-part series Benidorm Is Murder, starring John Hannah.
He is also in charge of returning series All Creatures Great and Small, Cooper & Fry, The Madame Blanc Mysteries and The Good Ship Murder as well as the channel’s continuing series Home and Away.
Hamish has driven Passion Documentaries creatively for the past three years, overseeing a more than 4 x expansion of the slate and delivering highly acclaimed work for major global platforms. After a decade directing, before joining Passion he was a Commissioning Editor in BBC Documentaries and has creatively led on projects that have accrued over 20 Baftas, multiple Emmy's and other major industry awards.
He regularly Produces and EPs across Passion’s slate while also leading Development across all Unscripted genres and independent film, also managing key talent relationships. Recent credits include Warner Bros’ Bafta winning Super/man: The Christopher Reeve Story, C4’s 2026 Best Series Bafta Winning See No Evil, Hulu’s / Disney’s global smash hit Devil in the Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke, Netflix’s Trainwreck: The Astroworld Tragedy and Apple Immersive’s pioneering two part series Top Dogs.
Helen Nightingale is Head of Factual and Factual Entertainment Commissioning at UKTV, where she has played a key role in shaping the unscripted strategy across U, U&Dave, U&W, U&Yesterday and U&Gold. Since joining in 2015, her commissions have included titles such as Becoming Victoria Wood, Only Fools and Horses: The Lost Archive, Guy Martin Proper Jobs and the award-winning Pete Wicks for Dogs Sake. Helen previously held senior roles at Gogglebox Entertainment and IWC Media.
Soho Studios Entertainment was launched in 2023 by its Chief Creative Officer Ian Lamarra Soho Studios Entertainment is currently based in Glasgow and London.
Soho Studios recently reviewed strategic investment from Asylum Entertainment, part of the Endeavor Group.
In its maiden year Soho Studios produced the hit premium true-crime series The Playboy Bunny Murder for ITV and ITVX and recently announced the forthcoming series Travels with Agatha with Sir David Suchet for Channel 4, Britbox US and SBS Australia.
They produce the podcast Tim’s Listening Party with The Charlatans’ front man Tim Burgess on the back of his Twitter feed of the same name which won ‘Best New Radio Show’ at this year’s ARIA awards.
Prior to Soho Studios, Lamarra was co-founder and Creative Director of Alaska TV responsible for creating and selling the likes of Damian Lewis: Spy Wars and Emilia Fox: In The Footsteps of Killers, as well as the reboot of classic competitive video-gaming series, GamesMaster. Prior to this he was Creative Director, Avalon and Head of Development, Tiger Aspect.
James is the Creative Director of label Curious Cat (their debut commission with Tuesday’s Child, The Way Out, went out on U&DAVE this year with Mel Giedroyc, Ed Gamble and Nish Kumar) and is responsible for producing and/or co-creating unscripted formats such as Killer Camp (ITV2+The CW), Extraordinary Escapes (C4), Apocalypse Wow (ITV2), The Hit List (BBC1), Guessable (Comedy Central), In With A Shout (ITV1), Queens for the Night (ITV1), Great British History Hunters (More4), Head Hunters (BBC1), Evil Monkeys (ITV2), and the RTS-Award winning Release the Hounds (ITV2+Fox).
He had an unusual start to his career in TV, appearing in eight gameshows as a contestant before persuading 12 Yard to accept him onto their trainee scheme, subsequently taking senior dev roles at Gogglebox (now Primal Media), Zodiak, Renegade and Expectation. A dad to two teenagers, he’s also a boardgame obsessed, choir singing, black belt kickboxing, scruffy Romanian rescue-dog owner.
James is Director of Development and Executive Producer at Mammoth Screen, having previously worked at Studio Lambert as Head of Scripted Development where he developed a slate of projects. Prior to working at Studio Lambert, James script edited a range of projects at Mammoth, including The City & the City and Noughts + Crosses for the BBC, and Fearless and Vanity Fair for ITV.
Jamie Ormerod is a Creative Director, producer and format creator with more than two decades’ experience in entertainment television. He has held senior creative roles at the BBC, Remarkable, Tuesday’s Child and Endemol Shine, developing and showrunning entertainment series for many of the UK’s leading broadcasters.
He has created formats including The Hit List, Richard Ayoade’s Question Team and the forthcoming Dara’s Dull Appreciation Society, and is co-creator of the hit ITV quiz shows Tenable and Golden Balls.
In 2020, Jamie co-founded London production company Interstellar, where he leads the company’s creative output across original entertainment and comedy formats, adaptations and brand-funded projects. His work is characterised by big, simple ideas, a strong sense of humour and a belief that the best entertainment should be as enjoyable to make as it is to watch.
Jay is a creative and commercially driven leader with 22 years of industry experience and a distinctive ability to orchestrate all aspects of production from inception to completion.
Throughout his extensive career, Jay has successfully balanced artistic vision with business objectives, directly overseeing post production departments to ensure projects are effectively treated and financially viable. As a highly versatile and multidisciplinary executive, he has a unique ability to seamlessly bridge the gap between development and technical execution – managing complex workflows, budgets, and diverse cross-functional teams. Jay’s comprehensive, hands-on understanding of the end-to-end production pipelines allows him to accurately anticipate challenges, optimise resources, and consistently bring content to fruition.
Furthermore, he fosters a collaborative environment that champions continuous improvement, strategically driving operational efficiencies without sacrificing creative integrity. By leveraging his deep knowledge and foresight, Jay is able to identify how businesses can align with long-term commercial growth, while empowering filmmakers to achieve maximum impact with their audiences.
Jez Lee is a BAFTA, RTS, Grierson and Emmy nominated Creative Director. Working across a range of factual genres in TV and audio, he has a reputation for creating high impact popular factual documentaries, franchises and formats. Recent credits include Con Mum (Netflix), Behind Bars (BBC), Small Town, Big Riot (BBC), Explosive Lies (Global), The Price of Paradise (Wondery), Streets of Gold: Mumbai (BBC) and Hometown (BBC). The Co-Founder of award winning independent production company Forest, he’s also on a mission to plant a load of trees.
As ITV Factual Controller Jo's commissions include: BAFTA-winning Long Lost Family/Born Without Trace & Ellie Simmonds Finding My Secret Family. Award winning Kate Garraway: Finding Derek; 7 up (56,63 & 70); Prince William: We Can End Homelessness; The Queen’s Green Planet; Paul O’Grady: For The Love Of Dogs. Joanna Lumley & Trevor McDonald authored series; TikTok: Murder Gone Viral; The Undercover Police Scandal: Love and Lies Exposed & The Essex Millionaire Murders.
At the BBC, Jo was Head of Independent Commissioning & Commissions including Masterchef and Hairy Bikers. Jo Directed & Produced BBC One's 7-part award winning documentary series Making Babies & The Shop about Selfridges, plus single docs for award winning strand 40 Minutes & Inside Story. Cut (long) teeth on Newsnight, Crimewatch etc.
Joe began his career at BBC Radio Comedy, where he produced award-winning series including Alexei Sayle’s Imaginary Sandwich Bar and Liam William’s Ladhood for Radio 4. He successfully developed Ladhood for a transition to TV and produced three series of the coming-of-age sitcom for BBC Three. He’s currently works for Boffola Pictures as Head of Comedy.
Jon Sen is MD and Executive Producer of Esmerelda Productions, founded by Lenny Henry.
Over a career spanning nearly three decades, he has written, directed, edited and exec’d over 300 hours of prime-time drama, beginning as director of C4’s groundbreaking British Asian drama, Second Generation. Other credits include 55 Degrees North, Waterloo Road and BBC 4’s Stan.
Between 2019-2023 he worked at BBC Studios as Exec Producer of EastEnders and Casualty, where he won several awards including two BAFTAs.
He is currently a Broadcast columnist and also writes the Substack, The Butterfly & The Bee, about the UK drama industry.
Julie Shaw became part of the BBC Daytime and Early Peak commissioning team in March 2017, developing many new and established brands and overseeing their move into Peak. As commissioning editor of returning series like Great British Menu, The Repair Shop, Celebrity Escape to the Country, Crimewatch Live and Expert Witness, the challenge is to keep the shows fresh and vibrant by working closely with the extraordinary teams that make them. “Great British Menu has grown and grown over the last few years and is now one of BBC2’s most successful brands, with spectacular food, entertaining imaginative chefs and outstanding innovation at its heart.”
Before joining the BBC, Julie worked as a series producer/showrunner in current affairs and daytime programming, covering both studio, outside broadcasts and pre-recorded programmes. She produced and directed various documentaries including the RTS award winning Living with Michael Jackson, viewed by over 155 million people worldwide, and series produced prime-time popular factual series like BBC One’s Shop Well for Less.
Disabled since birth, Julie is committed to increasing on-screen portrayal and off-screen representation of all under-represented groups, and appears regularly as a panelist on a discussions about disability in broadcasting and film.
“BBC Entertainment is an incredibly exciting place to be at the moment. As a team we have been at the forefront of the best of British storytelling, improving portrayal, and developing some of the strongest brands in the market."
Kat Shrubb is Head of Development at World Productions. Prior to joining World, Kat was a freelance Story Producer working with a range of broadcasters and companies and before that as Head of Development at Pure Fiction. Kat began her career in the North East as a runner and production secretary before gaining a place on the BBC Production Trainee scheme. There, she worked in a range of BBC departments and on their output; including Dragons’ Den, Radio 4; and the BBC documentaries department. She then moved into drama, working as a Script Researcher on Bafta nominated Our World War and Holby City.
Working within the BBC drama department, Kat went onto script edit and develop series such as the multi-award-winning Three Girls, Silent Witness and Luther for the BBC, before moving to ITV to script edit Bancroft. And most recently Story Producing Bad Sisters 2 for Apple. Focusing in on development, Kat has helped to manage and curate diverse drama slates at production companies such as Tall Story Pictures, Two Rivers Media, Fulwell 73 and Pure Fiction TV.
Whilst at the BBC Kat’s experience working with BBC Writers’ Room fostered a passion for working with new talent and championing northern voices and storytelling.
Katie is a highly-skilled, empathetic and inquisitive Series Director. She excels at crafting premium films that challenge perceptions, delivering powerful narratives with emotional depth. Whether she’s directing A-list talent or fostering trust with sensitive contributors, Katie approaches each project with versatility, passion, care and integrity. Her work spans both broadcast and branded documentaries.
Recently, Katie directed Groomed: The Truth Behind the Lie for Sky Documentaries. An incisive and powerful series examining the truth behind the national prevalence of grooming gangs in the UK through the lens of the women of Barrow. Delving behind the headlines to reveal the truth and questioning what really happened to Ellie Williams whose allegations of grooming tore her town apart and led to her being sentenced to eight and a half years in jail.
Prior to that, she helmed House of Kardashian for Sky Documentaries, a series that explored the rise of the influential Kardashian family. It delved into their impact on culture, power, and the world at large. She has also directed Rise of the Billionaires for Paramount+, a sophisticated series that elegantly and analytically wove the personal and business histories of the world’s most influential tech billionaires.
Fifteen years ago, Katie Oakley wanted to do a degree in teaching. But on finding there were no places left, she opted instead for a degree in broadcast media, with the intention of moving onto a teacher training top-up year sometime later.
That never happened, because during her broadcast media studies she was snapped up by The Foundation for a production role on Mister Maker Around the World for CBeebies. “It was surreal”, she recalls. “This was a show I’d watched with my kids, and here I was working on it!”
As a result, more opportunities arose and before she’d graduated, she’d gained further experience in the children’s sector, working on programmes such as Operation Ouch and Hetty Feather. From then on, her career has been firmly rooted in television production.
In 2019, she joined Terrific Television as a Junior Production Manager on the third series of My World Kitchen for CBeebies.
Now, as Head of Production overseeing the company’s entire output, she’s loving the job more than ever. “There’s nothing better than working with this amazing team to produce amazing content for children to engage with”, she says.
Katy Thorogood is Chief Creative Officer at True North. True North produces a wide range of popular returning series from documentaries including Top Guns: Inside the RAF (C4) to long running daytime titles, A New Life in the Sun (C4) and Help! We Bought a Village (C4). Also in the portfolio are returning crime franchises Forensics: Catching the Killer (Sky Crime) and Murder Scene: The Incident Room (C5) and reality brand, Teen Mom (Paramount +).
Prior to True North, Katy was Creative Director at Ricochet where amongst other titles, she created The Repair Shop (BBC). Alongside her experience at production companies, Katy has also held commissioning roles ITV, Discovery and the BBC.
Lisa Chapman is a senior unscripted executive with 30 years’ experience across creative development, production and business development.
As a Co-founder of Honeybird Studios she works with creatives, talent and production companies to develop unscripted formats for the UK and global market.
She is also a Consultant Partner at IndyStudios advising on business development and talent partnerships, supporting the expansion of a growing slate of YouTube channels and digital-first long-form content.
She is proud to serve as a Board Director at North East Screen, championing the screen industry in her home region, working across London and the North East.
Previously SVP at eOne Unscripted UK and Managing Director of Whizz Kid Entertainment, Lisa has delivered high-profile productions for all major UK broadcasters and streamers including Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Music. Her credits include the global reality format Ex on the Beach, the BAFTA Film Awards and the UK version of Lip Sync Battle. She also brought the Stand Up to Cancer brand from the USA to the UK and has worked on major charity events with organisations and figures including Global Citizen, The Prince’s Trust and Nelson Mandela.
Lisa is currently in her 8th year as Chief Creative Officer of Studio Ramsay Global, the multimedia joint venture between Gordon Ramsay and FOX Entertainment.
As Global Chief Creative Officer, she has been responsible for curating, growing, and diversifying the business. Creating new global formats, refreshing existing formats and building a transatlantic team who create content across all platforms.
She has created a global slate of formats with and without Gordon on screen for both UK & US networks and under her leadership SRG is currently producing content for major UK & US networks, digital platforms as well as premium streamers Apple, Netflix and Disney+.
Lisa has significantly grown SRG's portfolio of IP and expanded its global footprint and brand reach and curated its expanding on screen talent roster. Under her tenure SRG has won and been nominated for multiple BAFTA, Broadcast and Emmys and has won Broadcast Best Places to Work 3 years in a row.
She is an extremely experienced creative business leader and previous to this role worked both as a Commissioning Editor at the BBC and Ch 4 in the UK and as a senior creative across the independent sector producing global content for almost 30 years.
Lisa is based in London leading the teams working across the London, LA & Glasgow offices. She lives with her husband, her 3 children and her dog.
Multi-award-winning Development Exec & Series Producer specialising in specialist factual and factual entertainment programming - from hard-hitting journalism to natural history to travelogues - for major UK and international broadcasters. Experienced in taking projects from initial concept through to delivery. Credits include Drowning in Plastic, Irresistible: Why We Can’t Stop Eating, Liz Bonnin’s Wild Caribbean.
Louise Ogunnaike is an Assistant Commissioner for ITV Drama and Comedy, working across both genres to support the development and commissioning of a broad and diverse slate of projects. Before joining ITV, Louise was a Development Executive at Sister, where she spent four years working across a wide range of drama and comedy projects. With a background that spans both adult and children’s programming, Louise is committed to championing diverse voices and fostering an inclusive work culture, ensuring the projects she supports reflect a wide range of perspectives and resonate with broad audiences.
Louise Thornton is Head of Commissioning for BBC Scotland, leading the development and delivery of content across television, radio, digital and social platforms. She oversees the scripted, unscripted and sport portfolios, heading a multiplatform commissioning team responsible for creating distinctive content for audiences across Scotland and beyond.
With more than 25 years in the media industry, Louise has extensive experience spanning television, digital media and interactive content. She previously held senior editorial roles in Learning and was a driving force behind BBC The Social, the award-winning platform that champions emerging and under-represented Scottish voices.
Since joining Commissioning in 2018, Louise has helped shape BBC Scotland’s creative direction, including playing a key role in the launch of the BBC Scotland channel. She has led Scotland’s network co-commissioning strategy, supporting creative growth and delivering acclaimed programmes such as Murder Trial, Half Man, Guilt, Rebus, Dinosaur and Only Child.
Alongside network commissions, Louise is a passionate advocate for Scottish storytelling, backing successful local productions including Inside Barlinnie, Banjo & Ro’s Grand Island Hotel and The Ridge. She is also committed to talent development and innovation, supporting emerging creators through comedy shorts, iPlayer-first dramas and YouTube-first documentaries.
Luci Sanan is the founder of 53 Degrees North Media, a specialist media and IP consultancy working across digital and traditional media with studios, creators, brands and media owners. Her work helps content businesses maximise the attention and commercial reach of their intellectual property through distribution, audience development, platform strategy, commercial partnerships, rights exploitation and new business development.
With a career spanning more than 20 years across leading broadcasters, distributors, agencies and production companies, Luci combines deep traditional media expertise with a genuine understanding of the rapidly evolving creator and digital ecosystem. She advises producers, rights holders, talent, creators, brands and investors on opportunities across broadcast, streaming, FAST, AVOD, SVOD, YouTube, social platforms and emerging media models, providing digital distribution solutions to clients.
Through 53 Degrees North Media, Luci works with clients ranging from independent production companies and broadcasters to creators, brands and sports organisations.
Matt Crook founded Studio Crook in 2021 – a scripted and unscripted company that has produced: Bottom Exposed, Hancock – Very Nearly An Armful, Josie Gibson Xmas Unwrapped, Still Open All Hours Inside Out and Bradley Walsh: Cosmic Code as well as creating the Comic Relief Xmas Pantos for the BBC and Love Not War with War Child and Choose Love.
Recent commissions include: Bradley Walsh Out Of This World (TX Nov 2026), Funniest Xmas Sitcoms, The Story of Only Fools & Horses (TX Dec 2026).
Matt started his career working on The Big Breakfast, Big Brother 1 and The 11 O’ Clock Show before establishing Crook Productions in 2001 and creating: The Real Hustle, Thief Trackers, and Honey I Bought the House. Crook Productions was sold to ITV in 2021.
In 2023 Channel 4 invested in Studio Crook and the company became part of the C4 Indie Growth Fund portfolio.
Matt King is a post-production executive and editor with over 25 years' experience across the television and film industry. His credits include documentary, travelogue, extreme sports and make-over formats for broadcasters and production companies in both the UK and USA. Recent credits include: Great Estates From Above for Channel 4, Billy & Dom Eat the World on Amazon Prime Video, 1776: the Year That Made America, and Emmy-nominated Vikings: The Rise and Fall.
Matt began his career climbing the ranks of London's Soho post-production houses, starting as a runner in VT before working up through Editor, Senior Editor and Head of Post-Production, a route that gave him an unusually deep technical grounding alongside a sharp instinct for story. He went on to become a founding partner of Dash Pictures, where he built the company's post-production department from the ground up. Today, as Editorial Executive, Matt continues to shape the company's output at a strategic level while remaining hands-on in the edit suite, a rare combination of leadership and craft that keeps him close to both the technology and the storytelling driving Dash Pictures Vision.
Melanie Bines joined 72 Films as Production Executive in 2019 supporting the premium documentary slate as the company rapidly expanded. Mel has credits on a wide range of award-winning and critically acclaimed documentaries including, but not limited to, the recent The Tony Blair Story (Channel 4), Vietnam: The War that Changed America (Apple TV+), the award winning 911: One Day in America (Nat Geo) and The Zelensky Story (BBC) and Jimmy Savile: A British Horror Story (Netflix).
Alongside day-to-day work on individual shows, Melanie is passionate about nurturing Production talent and helping develop the next generation.
Michael Fraser is an Executive Producer at Wall to Wall with a track record of creating and delivering high-profile factual and entertainment formats, from specialist factual documentaries to returning entertainment hits and ambitious global reality series.
He developed and showran Back To The Frontier, the hugely ambitious immersive reality series for HBO Max, and is currently showrunning its second season. He also recently executive produced Buried with Michael Sheen, the critically acclaimed two-part BBC documentary, exploring the fight to expose the dangers of Monsanto’s toxic PCBs and their continuing impact on communities across the UK.
Since joining Wall to Wall in 2008, Michael has worked across almost every area of the company’s diverse unscripted slate. He developed and series produced Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star (BBC/Netflix), now in its sixth season. Other credits include executive producing BBC fitness competition series Go Hard Or Go Home and HBO Max design series Home Tours International, producing on five series of The Voice UK (BBC), and series producing the Grierson-nominated The Choir (BBC) and Churchill’s Secret Agents (BBC/Netflix).
Throughout his career, Michael has also played a key role in developing some of the UK’s most successful factual formats, including Back In Time For Dinner (BBC) and Long Lost Family (ITV).
Michelle Woods is an award-winning UK Senior Executive Producer & Content Consultant with over two decades of experience delivering top-tier television. A specialist in entertainment and quiz formats, her portfolio features many of the country's best-loved shows, including Pointless, The Million Pound Drop Live, Moneybags and The Floor. Michelle is a dedicated advocate for industry well-being, serving on the TV Mindset Executive Committee and one of the Festival Directors for their Freelancer Fest.
Mike became Director of Unscripted at Lifted in 2026 after four years as Creative Director. His slate of shows included Love Island, Love Island All Stars, Love Island Aftersun and The Big Quiz.
Mike oversees all editorial and commercial aspects of Love Island, as well as use of the brand’s IP including Love Island: The Morning After Podcast and other reality commissions attached to the brand.
Mike began his career casting the stars of The Only Way Is Essex, helping to launch reality stars including Gemma Collins. He has overseen the creation of various shows from development through to commission, including Survival Of The Fittest, Olivia Meets Her Match and several Love Island spin-offs. Mike’s many production credits include Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, Paul O’Grady Live, Splash! and Tool Academy.
Nadine Furlong is an experienced television creative who has held senior development roles at several of the UK’s leading production companies, including Betty, MultiStory Media, Rumpus Media and, most recently, CPL Productions, where she is Head of Development.
Beginning her career in documentary programming at Brook Lapping as well as other factual indies, Nadine built a strong foundation in production before moving into entertainment, where she has developed and worked across some of the industry’s most successful and enduring formats.
Throughout her career, she has produced on high-profile entertainment brands, including Big Brother, The Voice and I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!. With extensive experience spanning both factual and entertainment genres in development and production, Nadine has established a reputation for identifying standout ideas, developing compelling formats and driving creative strategy.
Neale is the Managing Director of Objective Entertainment, a format-focused label creating and producing programmes for UK and International broadcasters. Current productions include: TOWIE (ITV2), Picture Slam (BBC1), Celebs Go Dating (E4), Geordie Shore (MTV), Vinnie Jones In The Country (Discovery+), Lingo (ITV) and Wheeler Dealers World Tour (Discovery).
Neale is commercially-driven creative leader with a proven track-record in devising, pitching and exec-producing channel-defining content for major broadcasters in the UK, US and internationally. His work has delivered over £100m+ in revenues in the last decade, from format creation spanning multiple genres, including: Best Bakes At Christmas (Hallmark), Banned Camp, (Netflix), Shipwrecked (E4), Tipping Point, (ITV); Lightning (BBC2), Fight Dirty (BBC3), Sing: Ultimate A Cappella (Sky1), Craig & Bruno: Britain’s Best Drives (ITV) and The Crystal Maze (C4 & Nickelodeon).
Nick Emmerson is CEO and founder of H&VE. After working as a journalist and then for Newcastle United, Nick headed up some of the most renowned studios in the world, including Shed Media US and Warner Bros TV Production UK, and has created and executive produced many global hits and documentaries over the last 26 years including: Supernanny, Real Housewives of New York City, Meet the Russians, Sex on the Streets, Chaos at the Castle, The Marriage Ref with Jerry Seinfeld, The Squatters Next Door, Styled to Rock, Charlotte Church's Dream Build, and All American Muslim, which was nominated for an NAACP Award.
Nick is an experienced Executive Producer at The Illuminated Film Company. Nick has worked on a number of projects and developments including five 2D animated series, two specials and two commercials. These include The Rubbish World of Dave Spud, Little Princess, special A Bear Named Wojtek and Barbour Father Christmas commercials. He has built up experience in international distribution from the sales of Illuminated Films titles, along with the acquisition and development of new projects. He is experienced in financing and budgeting for productions.
Nick is on the ScreenSkills Animation Skills Council and has been involved with ScreenSkills financing courses as an expert. He has been a panellist for a number of pitching events and attends most major markets. He has progressed well in the animation industry and is looking to continue to expand his skills and experience in TV and across into features.
Nicky Huggett is a Strategic Development Consultant working for companies such as Dragonfly and Blue Cuckoo Pictures. She was previously VP of Factual Development at Nutopia, known for series such as Nat Geo’s Limitless with Chris Hemsworth and History Channel’s Secrets Declassified with David Duchovny.
She previously ran the development team at HiddenLight, the independent production company founded in 2020 by Hillary Clinton, her daughter Chelsea and Sam Branson. There she ran the factual slate, developing projects such as Emmy-award winning feature documentary In Her Hands for Netflix, and Gutsy, the Apple TV+ boxset featuring talent such as Amy Schumer and Kate Hudson.
Normanno Pisani is Head of Content Partnerships for English EMEA at Twitch, where he oversees creator partnerships and content across the region. Before joining Twitch, he spent seven years at TikTok, where he was one of the platform’s earliest European employees, setting up teams across EU markets. During his time there, he led content growth and entertainment teams globally, leading Creators, Publishers and Content strategies across verticals.
Having started out in regional television in the Westcountry, Paul went on to work in production in Manchester and Bristol before pursuing his passion for development. Working for, among others, the BBC, Two Four, Studio Lambert and Mentorn, he has developed across all of unscripted from reality and quiz through to true crime and observational documentaries. As head of development for Hello Mary, Paul's recent commission include a documentary series with Vicky Pattison for Channel 4, a returnable crime series for AMC and Shabaz Asks: Are Billionaires Bad, an entertainment film for the BBC.
Paul Testar joined Paramount in January 2022 as 5’s first dedicated drama commissioner and has helped oversee the major expansion of 5’s scripted slate, establishing 5 as a major home of original British drama.
Since joining Paramount, Testar has commissioned over two hundred and fifty hours of original drama series including Ellis, Monarch of the Glen, The Crow Girl and 5’s acclaimed revival of the iconic Play For Today format.
Before joining Paramount, Testar was a producer for Mammoth Screen with credits including The Serpent (BBC1/Netflix) and The Tower (ITV). He began his career as a script editor on numerous shows for the BBC, ITV, Netflix, Amazon and Channel 4.
Testar will succeed Sebastian Cardwell as Head of Scripted for 5 at the end of 2026.
Rhianna, named one of 2025’s Broadcast magazine’s Hot Shots and a 2025 British Breakthrough Leader, is a Scripted Commissioning Executive at the BBC. She works across a range of original and returning drama and comedy titles including Nightsleeper, Open Water, Silent Witness, Waterloo Road, Black Ops and more. She collaborates closely with commissioning editors and independent production companies to find and develop distinctive scripted content.
Previously, she was a Producer at Amazon’s Audible, where she created high-end audio dramas in partnership with Disney, Universal Music, and Ubisoft. Her background spans several leading production companies including Chapter One Pictures, Lime Pictures, and Whisper Films.
Ros Edwards is Head of Programmes at Honey Bee, a fully independent regional production company making popular unscripted factual programmes for a wide variety of broadcasters.
Ros co-founded Honey Bee in 2020 and has overseen numerous shows including, Ross Kemp: Mafia and Britain (Sky HISTORY), Bradley Walsh’s Comedy Heroes (Ch5), The Bus Driver: Britain’s Cocaine King (Discovery +), Britain’s Tiger Kings (ITV), The Grand Tour with Tom Read Wilson (Ch5), Shipwreck Treasure Hunters (Sky HISTORY), Agatha Christie: 100 years of Poirot and Miss Marple (Ch5) and Frontmen (Reelz).
Honey Bee focuses on making entertaining, engaging and adventurous programmes that give audiences a better understanding of the world through great storytelling.
Ros started in children’s television and spent most of her career in various roles at the BBC and ITV. However, being part of Honey Bee now means keeping bees is also a key part of the job and Ros has her own hive!
Rukhsana Mosam, has worked in unscripted British TV for over 30 years and is the Founder and Creative Director of Ten66 Television, an independent production company which specialises in factual entertainment and formats.
Ten66 have produced everything from smaller scale digital content to multi-million-pound productions with teams of up to 150 people. In the UK we’ve delivered content for the BBC, C4, Channel 5, and You Tube and we develop formats for international markets. In Unscripted our dating format Love in the Flesh sold to 15+ territories including Hulu US, while our newest dating format, Opposites Attract, won a Formats Award at Realscreen 2025 in Miami. Our short digital series The Black Lesbian Handbook for 4 was an award nominated original digital trailblazer and in 2026 we are growing our digital output in line with market changes.
Ten66 is currently expanding into Scripted to complete our content portfolio, and are working with established and up and coming writers across our slate, with a special focus on Diverse writers and material.
Fun Fact: Founder Rukhsana has a not-so-secret passion for property - when not making programmes on the subject it’s been her side hustle for the last 20 years !
Sam is Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at ITV. As part of ITV’s Executive Leadership team, she leads the team and oversees ITV's overarching Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategy. This includes leading the delivery of ITV's Diversity Acceleration Plan across its three pillars: Mainstream Content, Creating Opportunities, Inclusive Culture alongside embedding Accessibility and Disability Equity at ITV.
Sam chairs BAFTA's Disability Advisory Group and is part of their Diversity Steering Group for the Awards. She also chairs Arts Council England’s Disability Advisory Group for All In, the new arts access scheme aiming to improve the experience of Deaf, Disabled and Neurodivergent people attending arts and cultural events in the UK and Ireland. She was listed in Shaw Trust's Power 100, the list of the top 100 most influential Disabled people in the UK in 2021 and 2023 and was awarded an MBE for her services to Disabled People in the Queen's Jubilee Birthday Honours list in June 2022.
Sarah Asante is a scripted development strategist with two decades of experience inside British TV. Making development decisions on digital shortform, longform comedy, longform drama.
She launched Asante Space in May 2025, following four years as a scripted Commissioner at UKTV (a BBC Studios company), where she developed and greenlit comedies and dramas including Meet the Richardsons, Sneakerhead, Murder They Hope starring Johnny Vegas and Sian Gibson and Newark, Newark. She also championed diverse new voices, piloting four original comedies from emerging talent – one became an RTS winner.
Before UKTV, Sarah was part of the BBC’s award-winning comedy team where she developed and greenlit the BAFTA CRAFT-winning sketch series Famalam and the BAFTA & RTS nominated pilot of Dreaming Whilst Black, later picked up internationally by A24 and Showtime.
Her television career has spanned 10 years across Channel 4, ITV and Fox International Channels plus a further 10yrs within BBC Group, giving her a wide-ranging perspective across factual, entertainment and scripted.
Sarah also mentors international filmmakers for the BFI, served on the BAFTA TV and Learning Committees, and has been a consultant for BAFTA Elevate. She has produced landmark sessions at the Edinburgh TV Festival including the first Fellowship awarded to Shonda Rhimes in 2025.
Sarah was appointed as the first investment board advisor for Climate Spring in April 2026, and mentors a wide array of storytellers.
Sarah Butler is a passionate PR and Marketing Communications professional, with over 20 years' experience in the sports and lifestyle industry, having worked for both professional sports teams and multi-million-pound corporate companies. Sport Business Connected, a company originally created to support women working within the sports business industry, is now a leading PR consultancy, specialising in sports broadcast, tech, data, teams and clubs, along with global networking events.
Sarah is a Commissioning Executive Producer for National Geographic working across new and returning series as well as development for the linear channel. Prior to this, Sarah was Executive Producer responsible for National Geographic International Wild. Before joining the Nat Geo team, Sarah was an award-winning programme developer, showrunner and executive producer working across specialist factual and natural history.
Award-winning, BAFTA nominated Director of Development and Exec Producer at Aurora Media, Sarah has extensive experience in unscripted commissioning across the UK, international and streamer markets. She has a real passion for bringing broadcasters, talent, brand partners and distributors together to bring content to life on screen, whether for the linear or digital space.
She has developed and exec-produced a varied slate of factual programming, from feature docs to large-scale competition formats and talent-led series, including Prue Leith's Cotswold Kitchen (ITV), Britain's Favourite Railway Station with Si King (Channel 4), Inside the World's Toughest Prisons (Netflix), Ravneet Gill's Chop House (Food Network & Discovery+), The Great Big Tiny Design Challenge with Sandi Toksvig (Channel 4), Spike Milligan – The Unseen Archive (Sky Arts), Surviving the Tunisia Terror Attack (Amazon) and The Truth About My Murder (AMC and BBC).
Saurabh works at Etta Pictures with Jeff Pope MBE. Before that he worked at Big Talk Studios, on shows such as Ludwig, Defending The Guilty and The Goes Wrong Show. Before that he worked at the BBC and ITV Studios, in both comedy and drama. He was on the board of Creative Access for a decade and the board of Film London for six years.
Shoshana Wilson is VP of Scripted Content at playhouse Studios, working across development and in production to bring premium and commercial scripted content onto your screens. Playhouse Studios first scripted show to go into production this year will be announced soon! They also have offices in Dublin and Belfast so offer production services in Ireland, financing and post production in Dublin and the U.K.
Prior to her current role, Shoshana worked at Fremantle, was Senior Acquisitions Buyer at Viaplay Group, maternity cover at Fremantle as VP, Scripted Content, where she acquired Wellington Paranormal and also worked across several teams at FOX, as Director of Programming, Scheduling and Acquisitions and Director of Global Acquisitions, acquiring and programming titles such as Legion, Atlanta, NCIS and The Walking Dead and working across the UK National Geographic titles.
Simon is a Senior Editorial Manager at ITV for a number of channels (ITV2, ITV3 and ITV Quiz). He is responsible for the strategy and curation of these three channels. This includes creating the annual playout plans for long-standing reality brands such as Love Island, Big Brother and The Only Way Is Essex, as well as developing the launch strategies for titles such as The Princess Diaries and Olivia Attwood's Bad Boyfriends.
He devised the channel proposition for the recently launched ITV Quiz, helping it to become a Top 30 performing channel within a year. He also creates the programme strategy for ITV3 which continues to be a top performer. Over a number of years Simon has held numerous planning and scheduling positions at ITV. He's worked across a diverse range of channels, including CITV and ITVBe, and has created schedules and launch plans for a wide selection of genres and audiences.
Head of History at the BBC, overseeing programmes ranging from the BAFTA-winning documentary Simon Schama: The Road to Auschwitz and the critically acclaimed Unforgotten: The Bradford City Fire to box set hits such as Titanic Sinks Tonight and Rise of the Nazis, and returning series such as Who Do You Think You Are? and A House Through Time.
Sreya Biswas is the Director of Programmes at the NHU, overseeing an ambitious portfolio of innovative new content for multiple global clients and platforms. She is also in charge of a slate of existing projects including landmark series Blue Planet III and Jane Goodall feature doc Matriarch.
Before joining the Natural History Unit, Sreya was the BBC’s Head of Commissioning for Natural History, where she oversaw numerous major landmarks and series.
Susanne Curran is an award-winning (BAFTA Scotland and RTS) Executive Producer and Showrunner in Factual, delivering landmark productions for UK and US broadcasters for over 20 years. She has held senior creative leadership roles — including Executive Producer, Head of Development and Head of Factual — at BBC Studios and indies Wild Pictures and Burning Bright, and has been Executive Producer at Brinkworth Productions since 2021.
Susanne has developed and scaled breakthrough formats including A&E's Accused: Guilty or Innocent?, ITV's The Cruise and The Zoo, Brits Behind Bars and Kids Behind Bars - all securing multi season commissions. She devised and produced Channel 4's breakthrough documentaries 100 Vaginas and Me and My Penis and BBC Two's Mr vs Mrs: Call the Mediator (Grierson Longlisted), and devised and produced an acclaimed slate of Arts and History programming for BBC with talent Rankin, Richard E Grant, Peter Capaldi and Lucy Worsley. She has been a business-winning creative, working across both Development and Production throughout her career.
Tafara Makopa is the Founder of Mako Studios, a digital-first entertainment company specialising in building formats, audiences and entertainment IP for the next generation of viewers.
Previously Managing Director of Wall of Entertainment, Tafara oversaw award-winning productions and some of the UK’s most successful digital entertainment formats, working across YouTube, television and branded content. His credits and partnerships span broadcasters, platforms and brands including the BBC, Channel 4, Netflix, Prime Video, Ministry of Sound and JBL.
Tafara is passionate about the future of entertainment, championing bold creative ideas, emerging talent and formats that genuinely understand how modern audiences watch, share and engage with content.
Tamara Gilder is the Managing Director of Banijay UK's Remarkable Entertainment, leading the strategic, editorial and commercial direction of the business across London and Glasgow.
She has been at Remarkable Entertainment since 2016 and has developed many of their quiz, and game shows – continuing to be the Executive Producer on long-running successes House of Games, Pointless & Deal or No Deal. She also oversees Tipping Point and Only Connect. Their reality shows include Building the Band for Netflix, which reached the Netflix Global Top 10, and Genius Game for ITV, bringing the acclaimed Korean entertainment format to UK audiences.
Previously she was Head of Programmes at Victory Television, developing and executive producing all their entertainment shows, and was also part of the Sony Pictures Television International Creative Development team.
Her freelance credits include seven series of Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway, Ant & Dec’s Gameshow Marathon, The Dame Edna Treatment, All Star Mr & Mrs and The British Comedy Awards.
Toby joined Dancing Ledge in 2016 as Development Executive and went on to be their Head of Development, leading development across a broad slate of comedy and drama titles, including Delhi Crime for Netflix, Domino Day for BBC3, Crossfire for BBC1 and Platform 7 for ITVX. He script-edited The Salisbury Poisonings, one of the biggest rated dramas of 2020, and story produced the Bafta-nominated first series of The Responder. He was Executive Producer on Wedding Season for Disney+, and the second series of The Responder for BBC1.
Prior to working at Dancing Ledge, Toby spent a decade in entertainment and children’s TV.
As Controller of Current Affairs at ITV, Tom is responsible for commissioning a wide range of documentaries and current affairs programmes including strands like The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, Tonight, Peston and Exposure. Notable programmes include the Emmy-winning films Afghanistan: No Country for Women and Saudi Arabia Uncovered; BAFTA winners: The Missing Children and Fearless: The Women Fighting Putin - as well as the 2023 Broadcast Specialist Factual winning series: Worlds Collide: The Manchester Bombings.
Before joining ITV in 2015, he spent over 20 years at the BBC as producer, director and Executive Producer, including four years as Editor of Panorama where he oversaw many films - including the multi-awarding winnning investigation Undercover Care: The Abuse Exposed - revealing the shocking treatment of patients at Winterbourne View Special Hospital.
Tom Popay is the Creative Director of Chalkboard TV, responsible for the slate of unscripted shows as well as driving development in both unscripted and factual drama. During his time with Chalkboard, he’s Executive Produced Vardy v Rooney: A Courtroom Drama, Sue Perkins: Lost In Alaska. Before joining Chalkboard Tom worked for Stellify Media and ITV Studios developing titles like Flinch (Netflix), Blind Date (Channel 5), Can’t Touch This (BBC1) Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: Million Pound Question and Love Island: Aftersun amongst others.
Tom Pullen is a Commissioning Editor in BBC’s Documentaries and works closely with indies across the UK on major documentary brands, limited series and features – including THE MOTHER OF ALL CONS, LOVER, LIAR PREDATOR, HELMAND, ONCE UPON A TIME IN SPACE, REPORTED MISSING and MURDER TRIAL.
Tom was previously Head of Documentaries at Dragonfly where he spent over six years, originating and executive producing innovative new series and feature documentaries including the multi-award-winning factual drama THEN BARBARA MET ALAN for BBC and Netflix and the BAFTA nominated feature documentary FORCED OUT for Sky.
Tom Williams is an award-winning television format creator with nearly 20 years’ experience developing some of the UK’s biggest entertainment shows.
His credits span primetime quiz like The Million Pound Drop (Channel 4), big scale singing competition in shows like Starstruck (ITV) and high-end reality game in Battle Camp (Netflix).
He began his career at Endemol, developing The Million Pound Drop and The Bank Job (Channel 4), before joining Remedy Productions, where he created and Series Produced BBC’s Ready or Not.
He then became Head of Development at Remarkable Television, where he helped bring NBC’s The Wall and a rebooted Ready Steady Cook (BBC) to air, as well as developing Starstruck and Richard Osman’s House of Games Night, a primetime spinoff of the daytime quiz.
Most recently, as Creative Director at Talkback Thames, Tom created Mamma Mia: I Have a Dream (ITV), The Big Celebrity Detox (Channel 4) and Battle Camp (Netflix).
In January 2025, Tom left Talkback Thames to partner with Lily Wilson at ITV Studios to launch a new company, Bright Entertainment.
Tracy spent the first part of her career behind the camera interviewing celebrities on the red carpet and at film junkets for Celebrity Extra and The Fix for Livingtv. She also specialised in Live OBs covering premieres such as Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Batman Begins, Casino Royale and numerous Live from the Red Carpet: Bafta Awards for E! Entertainment.
Her transition to kids’ content came as Series Producer for Disney Junior on Tales of Friendship with Winnie the Pooh and then as Producer on Disney Channel’s Minnie’s Fashion Challenge. At Moonbug Entertainment, she was a Senior Producer, creating globally successful animated YouTube digital first series like Gecko's Garage and Arpo, along with crossover content for Blippi.
Tracy has produced five series of the CBeebies live-action/animated hit My Petsaurus with Welsh indie Bumpybox. She first worked with King Banana on four series of the award- nominated CBeebies show Yakka Dee! and then as Series Producer on Nikhil & Jay, also for CBeebies. She is currently working on their new show Yakka Do.
She loves nothing more than getting her hands dirty at her allotment, spoiling her cat, and supporting her local Golden Girls, aka Watford FC Women.
Ursula Romero is an accomplished broadcast executive, executive producer and film director with over two decades of experience delivering large-scale international sports productions. Throughout her career, she has played a leading role in some of the world's most prestigious sporting events, including multiple Olympic and Paralympic Games, FIFA World Cups, Pan American Games, European Games, Invictus Games and The World Games.
With extensive expertise in host broadcasting, broadcast operations, quality assurance and multi-platform content delivery, Ursula is recognised for combining technical excellence with cinematic storytelling, creating live sports coverage that is both visually compelling and emotionally engaging. Her experience spans strategic planning, production leadership and international broadcast coordination across complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
Her work also bridges the worlds of sports media and creative production, with credits on internationally recognised films and documentaries. She currently serves on the Global Esports Federation's Digital, Technology & Innovation Commission and the UIPM TV Commission, contributing to the future of sports media and innovation.
A passionate advocate for diversity, sustainability and inclusion, Ursula is committed to advancing the industry and helping shape the next generation of global sports broadcasting professionals.
Victoria Ashbourne is CEO and co-founder of Hello Dolly, an independent production company that creates and produces innovative, large-scale quiz and competition formats, including Ant & Dec’s Limitless Win and Win Win with Postcode Lottery.
Wendy Rattray is the founder and Creative Director of Glasgow-based independent production company Hello Halo. Over a career spanning more than 25 years, she has developed and executive produced award-winning documentaries and factual entertainment for UK and international broadcasters.
Known for creating distinctive, character-led stories with broad audience appeal, Wendy's work spans premium documentaries, specialist factual and original entertainment formats. Her productions have received BAFTA, Broadcast, RTS and Grierson Award nominations and wins, reflecting a career built on ambitious storytelling and creative innovation.
Recent projects include Channel 4's Game of Wool and Banjo and Ro’s Grand island Hotel.
Wendy is passionate about championing originality, nurturing new talent and telling stories that entertain, surprise and connect with audiences.
William Prince was Operations and Finance Director at Fifth Season-backed Motive Pictures helping build the operations and infrastructure from the ground up and working on projects including THE WOMAN IN THE WALL (BBC/Showtime), ONE NIGHT (Paramount+), GET MILLIE BLACK (Channel 4/HBO), and YOUNG SHERLOCK (Amazon).
William then joined Little Island Productions PATRICK MELROSE (Showtime/Sky Atlantic), WHEEL OF TIME S3 (Amazon/Sony), as their COO and Executive Producer before setting up Level Six Films and joining forces with Film Producer Terri Dwyer; BREAK, multi award winning THE STRANGER IN OUR BED and Bafta nominated BOLAN'S SHOES.
Wyn Baptiste is an Executive Producer at the award-winning indie Doc Hearts. In over 25 years in the industry, he has produced and directed a wide range of programmes channels including the BBC, Channel 4, Paramount, The Economist, Nat Geo, Disney+ and MTV. His work in documentaries has spanned premium factual, current affairs, business, the arts, politics, health, youth programming, education and social history. Has also produced TV drama.
Recent work includes: the feature doc Shoot The People, for which he received a BIFA nomination in 2025 in the producer category; Pole to Pole with Will Smith for Nat Geo and the award-winning MTV Original Series Nathan Henry: Flowers for Dad.
Throughout his career he has specialised in bringing diverse stories and voices to air. Wyn started his career in journalism, spending 10 years at the BBC as a senior broadcast journalist and Community Affairs Editor.
Yonni is Creative Director at Mentorn Media, part of the Tinopolis group, where he leads documentary, factual and premium factual development across a broad commissioner slate. He joined Mentorn in March 2026, bringing over a decade of exec experience.
Yonni's career spans over seventeen years across broadcast, streaming, and digital-first platforms. He was part of the original team who launched and steered VICE News through a period of explosive growth, generating 15 billion viewing minutes in eighteen months and earning Emmy nominations, a Peabody, Broadcast Digital and a Rory Peck Award. As VP and Head of Programming at VICELAND UK, he then oversaw the channel's UK launch, before becoming Creative Director of VICE Studios, where he built and led development and production teams across a wide-ranging slate.
Yonni has worked across genres, platforms, and global markets, with a particular focus on turning ideas into scalable, commercially successful formats and has built deep relationships across UK and US broadcasters and streamers.
Zoë joined Roughcut as Production Executive in 2021, becoming Head of Production in 2022. In her previous long-term role as Line Producer and Production Executive at FremantleMedia, she worked across an eclectic mix of scripted and unscripted television, including comedy, children’s drama, factual and documentaries. Before joining Roughcut, Zoë Line Produced for Merman and Drama Republic.
