New MDs at Tony Jordan’s Red Planet Pictures

LONDON: Alex Jones and Belinda Campbell have been appointed joint managing directors of Red Planet Pictures, the production company behind such dramas as Death in Paradise, The Passing Bells and Dickensian.

Tony Jordan, the company’s founder, will become CEO and continue to oversee Red Planet’s expansion, with a focus on working with writers and creating more new content for Red Planet Pictures. Jordan commented: “Alex and Belinda have been integral to Red Planet Pictures’ success and growth over the past few years and I am delighted that they will now take on the roles of managing director. I have no doubt that they are the perfect pairing to take the company into its next exciting phase of development, freeing up my time to concentrate more on the creative side, working with new writers, forming new partnerships here and overseas and hopefully, the bit I love best—the writing!”

Jones was previously head of business and production at Red Planet, while Campbell was head of drama. Jones joined the company in 2007 and has since spearheaded Red Planet’s approach to production. Campbell joined Red Planet in 2011 as executive producer.

Jones said: “I have been at Red Planet right from the start and am proud to have been part of the company’s substantial growth during that time. I am looking forward to working with Belinda to meet our ambitions to produce a range of content from big-budget, international drama co-productions to event programming and of course working closely with Simon Raikes to increase our slate of non-scripted content.”

Campbell commented: “Red Planet Pictures is synonymous with quality drama—from the ratings-winning Death in Paradise to groundbreaking ideas like Dickensian. I am looking forward to building on our international reputation to produce even more quality content that resonates with audiences in the U.K. and around the world.”

Additionally, Alex Protherough has been appointed as head of production. Protherough joins Red Planet from Little Island Productions and previously spent five years at Company Pictures. Also joining Red Planet Pictures is Newton Velji as head of development for factual. Newton joins the indie from Crackit Productions, where she developed a range of factual series. Also, Julie Gissing was promoted from head of finance to finance director at the company.