Former BBC executive Liam Keelan is to join The Walt Disney Company to oversee original productions in Europe and Africa for its TV and Disney+ services. Keelan joins Disney’s Television and Direct-to-Consumer business as vice president of original productions, television for Europe & Africa on 2nd March. Based in London, Keelan will lead a team […]
BBC Studios’ scripted portfolio director Liam Keelan is exiting the business as the distributor once again restructures its exec ranks. The exec’s departure comes six months after Mark Linsey was made chief creative officer of BBC Studios, in charge of its Content Partnerships team and portfolio of production relationships. Keelan joined BBC Studios, previously called […]
Senior producers and BBC Studios execs have spoken out about the public broadcaster’s plans to extend the 30-day iPlayer window into a full year, as BBC Two lags six months behind Amazon’s premiere date for big-budget co-production Good Omens. The future of the BBC’s catch-up service – where hit show Bodyguard racked up around 10.8m views […]
The BBC Studios merger has allowed scripted execs to get closer to IP much earlier in the game – a strategy that is paying dividends across drama and comedy As a result of the BBC Studios merger, conversations for scripted programming are now further “upstream”, with the distributor coming in much earlier in the development […]
BBC Studios has revealed that from September chief creative officer Mark Linsey (pictured) will take charge of its portfolio of production relationships. Linsey will now manage partnerships with indies and BBC Studios Production, while remaining in his role as chief creative officer. He will relinquish his responsibilities as BBC Studios Production lead, however. A new […]
Comedy has not had the same uplift in budgets and ambition as straight-up scripted fare, but half hours that are as big on drama as laughs are in demand and, increasingly, on-demand. Just don’t call it ‘dramedy’. Stewart Clarke reports. For comedy writers and producers, recent proclamations from industry heavyweights are no laughing matter. “It […]
Buyers will get a first look at some of 2017’s most-anticipated dramas at BBC Worldwide Showcase including first looks at the new Top of the Lake, starring Nicole Kidman, Jimmy McGovern’s Broken, and Peter Moffat’s period drama The Last Post. Misha Glenny’s McMafia will also be on show while White Gold, reuniting several of The […]
Amazon Prime Instant Video and BBC Worldwide have greenlit an eight-part fashion-themed drama from UK indie Lookout Point. The Collection is set in the world of French haute couture just after the Second World War, and will launch exclusively in 2016 for Amazon Prime members in the UK. This marks the first time Amazon has […]
Julie Swanston is VP, commissioning for BBC Worldwide Channels. She will commission a minimum of 83 hours of content a year for Brit and Earth, with Liam Keelan, director of scripted, overseeing BBC First. For BBC Brit, she will commission four original, factual-entertainment series across four core key filters: camaraderie, expertise, wit and jeopardy. For BBC Earth, and […]
French pay TV platform Canal+ and Australian pubcaster ABC are among buyers of the BBC’s acclaimed crime drama Happy Valley. Sweden’s SVT, Norway’s NRK, Finland’s YLE and New Zealand’s TVNZ have also acquired the six-part series, which BBC Worldwide distributes internationally. BBC director of television Danny Cohen recently singled the series out as a sign […]
