ITVS-backed Plimsoll appoints Magnify CEO to senior fact-ent position

A Year On Planet Earth

ITV Studios-owned Plimsoll Productions has appointed Andrea Jackson, CEO of its distribution subsidiary Magnify Media, as creative director of factual entertainment.

Reporting to Plimsoll CEO Grant Mansfield, and joining the executive leadership group, Jackson will develop, package and serve as executive producer across formats and factual content for the UK-based firm.

Jackson launched Magnify Media in 2015, with the firm going on to represent titles including BBC1 fact-ent one-off Oti Mabuse: My South Africa, natural history doc Queer Planet and Channel 4 entertainment format Handmade: Good With Wood.

Andrea Jackson

Plimsoll took ownership of the firm in 2020, with Jackson stay on to run it as an independent business. As part of Plimsoll’s acquisition by ITV Studios, Magnify Media will now fully integrate into the ITV Studios distribution business in 2023.

Prior to launching Magnify Media, Jackson spent eight years as managing director of acquisitions and formats for DRG, which was sold to MTG. There, she worked on global formats including The Farm And The Bar, and titles such as 15 to 1, Don’t Tell the Bride and Doc Martin.

Previously, she co-founded and served as MD of Zeal Entertainment, which was acquired by DRG. At Zeal, she ran the international business and secured the rights to the live event Miss World and The Singing Bee.

Plimsoll, meanwhile, is currently in production across 20 series, including The Ascent With Alex Honnold and Great Migrations for National Geographic/Disney+ and A Year On Planet Earth for Fox – TBI’s Show of the Week choice for this week.

Mansfield said that Plimsoll had been “great admirers of Andrea for years” and said the company is “eager to lean into her robust formats and distribution experience, her deep relationships, specifically within the UK and US markets, and her unparalleled knowledge of the global marketplace.”