Granada America Bolsters Exec Staff

LOS ANGELES, August 19:
Granada America has reorganized its senior management team, appointing several
executives to new positions, including Sam Zoda as the COO.

Julie Meldal-Johnsen has
been named the senior VP of business development, responsible for scripted and
digital programming, while Ivan Garel-Jones, the senior VP of business affairs,
will concentrate exclusively on the company’s non-scripted business.

Granada America hired
Zoda, who is currently the executive VP, in 2004 as the senior VP of
production. He helped in the development and production of several shows,
including Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen
Nightmares and Nanny 911. Zoda has produced programming for NBC, ABC, FOX,
MTV, Lifetime, GSN, Travel Channel, A&E, Animal Planet, Discovery, TLC and
HGTV.

Meldal-Johnsen has been
with ITV since 2001 and has worked across all parts of its content divisions.
She is building Granada’s scripted production business in the U.S. through its
own development as well as by establishing partnerships with U.S. producers of
both television and broadband content. Meldal-Johnsen also looks after
Granada’s investments in Jaffe Braunstein Entertainment and Electric Farm
Entertainment.

Garel-Jones has been with
ITV since 2000, when he joined business affairs for Granada in the U.K., where
he worked in both scripted and non-scripted production. He moved to Granada
America in 2004 as VP of business affairs.

—By Jackie Stewart