Nicola Shindler’s Quay Street names Mammoth Screen & ITVS alum as COO

Nolly

Quay Street Productions, the Nicola Shindler-helmed ITV Studios label behind the upcoming Nolly, has appointed Mammoth Screen MD Samantha McMillon as chief operating officer.

McMillon will join the company this month and will oversee commercial operations at Quay Street, which launched in January 2021 and will this year release its first two projects, both for nascent UK streamer ITVX.

Samantha McMillon

Prior to Quay Street, McMillon was MD for Poldark and Endeavor producer Mammoth Screen, which she joined in March 2022 and where she oversaw the company’s drama slate.

Before that, she served as commercial director – scripted for parent firm ITV Studios, having also worked in the distribution arm’s content team, bringing scripted content to the market from UK, European and Australian producers.

McMillion joins an expanding team at the scripted label, headed up by former StudioCanal UK MD & Red Production Company founder Shindler, who brought on board execs including executive producer, Richard Fee; head of development, Davina Earl; head of production, Chris Leach and head of business affairs, Kate Boyle, within the past year.

Quay Street’s inaugural titles include Nolly, from Russell T Davies, based on the life of British TV star Noele ‘Nolly’ Gordon, who became a national icon for her role in long-running UK soap opera Crossroads, and Significant Other, a remake of Yes Studios’ Israeli series of the same name.

Talking to TBI recently about the projects, Shinder said that both shows highlight important issues: “With Nolly it’s the treatment of women at that time, but also through the ages, and with Significant Other it’s looking at loneliness and exploring how as a modern society we [live] side by side, but without ever really knowing people.”