BBC Studios has made three executive appointments to its Los Angeles leadership team.
Jenny Groom, who ran unscripted competition formats at NBCUniversal joins BBC Studios as Executive Vice President of Unscripted Development. Ryan O’Dowd has been promoted to President of Unscripted. Krystal Whitney has been promoted to Executive Vice President of Current Programming.
The company’s Los Angeles production base has produced and launched shows for broadcasters including Amazon, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, National Geographic, Netflix and Peacock, with a portfolio of hits such as Dancing with the Stars, Weakest Link, The 1% Club and most recently, the survival competition series Outlast on Netflix.
O’Dowd will continue to lead the Unscripted business in Los Angeles and will continue to report to Matt Forde, Managing Director of BBC Studios Global Entertainment, who leads the company’s global network of 12 production bases. Both Groom and Whitney will report into O’Dowd.
Matt Forde, MD of Global Entertainment, BBC Studios, said: “We are delighted to be welcoming Jenny Groom to BBC Studios. She has had an absolutely stellar career to date, and we know she will bring incredible drive and ambition to our unscripted business in the U.S. market. Coupled with Ryan’s expertise at the helm and Krystal in her new role, the Los Angeles team is perfectly placed to build on the tremendous success already achieved. I’m very much looking forward to seeing what they deliver in the future.”
Ryan O’Dowd, President of Unscripted, BBC Studios, said: “In what is a transformative time across the global entertainment landscape, it’s a true privilege to lead our growing Los Angeles unscripted business and to have this opportunity to work with such a brilliant team, who are the absolute best-in-class. Jenny has proven to be one of the most respected executives in the business, boasting an impressive track record building and leading some of the nation’s biggest unscripted hits across both broadcast and streaming. I’ve had the pleasure of working with her on multiple series, and she’s the perfect person to lead our U.S. development as we grow domestically and internationally. Krystal is a force of nature, and our success would not have been possible without her. Her passion for the craft, relentless work ethic and unflappable demeanor have enabled her to win the trust, respect and admiration of our talent and network partners. We have exciting projects on the horizon, and I couldn’t imagine a better team to work with to bring these shows to life.”
The U.S. team will continue to work in collaboration with leading producers in the U.K on developing and launching global hit formats such as Dancing with the Stars, Weakest Link and The 1% Club. O’Dowd will continue to work alongside, on a leadership level, Mark Linsey, President of Scripted, in heading up BBC Studios Los Angeles Productions.
Jon Creamer
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