BBC Studios ANZ Taps Screentime Australia Alum

BBC Studios Australia and New Zealand has appointed Screentime Australia alum Deb Spinocchia as head of development and content of its production arm.

Spinocchia will lead the development team and oversee the delivery of shows to the commissioning platform. At Screentime Australia, she was an executive producer of SAS Australia and The School That Tried to End Racism, which received a 2021 AACTA nomination.

Prior to her stint at Screentime Australia, Spinocchia was an executive producer at Seven Studios and oversaw productions such as House Rules, Zumbo’s Just Desserts, First Dates and Back with the Ex. She has also held roles at Southern Star Entertainment, Endemol Shine, Fremantle Media, SBS and ABC and worked on shows such as World’s Strictest Parents, So You Think You Can Dance, Big Brother, Undercover Boss and Beauty and the Geek.

Kylie Washington, general manager and creative director of production at BBC Studios ANZ, said: “I’m delighted to have someone of Deb’s caliber joining the team. Deb has a wealth of experience in content development and production across reality, factual, scripted and live entertainment and is the perfect person to lead the development team as we build on the momentum of this year and look to extend our slate further into different genres.”

Spinocchia added: “I am delighted to join Kylie and the team at such an exciting and pivotal moment for BBC Studios’ production arm. The expansion of their creative development slate across Australia and New Zealand has been enormously impressive, and I’m thrilled to be a part of the next phase.”