Sky Studios Adds to Drama Team

Sky Studios has made two new appointments to its drama team as it looks to increase the investment and scale of Sky original dramas.

Katherine Butler, most recently creative director at The Ink Factory, has been tapped as director of commissioning for drama, while Adrian Sturges, an independent freelance producer, has been hired as an executive producer.

In her new role, Butler will be responsible for overseeing Sky Studios’ slate of commissioned drama projects in the U.K. and Ireland. When she worked at The Ink Factory, she was responsible for the creative strategy of the business across the U.S. and the U.K., working with the team to build scripted slates in London, Los Angeles and Asia and executive producing TV and film projects. Prior to that, Butler served as head of film and TV drama at Raw, where she produced the award-winning films American Animals and Dream Horse. She has also served as deputy head of film at Film4 and head of development at Ruby Films.

As an executive producer, Sturges will work directly with indie-commissioned projects and projects developed and produced in-house, overseeing the production, execution and delivery of Sky original dramas. Before joining Sky Studios, he worked as an independent freelance producer. He recently produced the Netflix series The Bastard Son & The Devil Himself adapted by Joe Barton for Andy Serkis’s company The Imaginarium.

Sturges will begin his new role with the company this month, while Butler will join in the new year. Both will report to Meghan Lyvers, Sky Studios’ director of original drama for the U.K. and Ireland.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to be joining Meghan and her amazing team at such an exciting time of expanding vision and growth for drama at Sky Studios,” Butler said. “From Chernobyl to Gangs of London, I Hate Suzie to Save Me and Patrick Melrose, I have long admired the big, bold, risk-taking range and ambition of Sky’s dramatic output. I can’t wait to start building upon this great legacy in partnership with the extraordinary talent and producers across the U.K. industry—what a privilege!”

Sturges said, “I’m really excited to be joining Sky Studios, having previously had some of my best experiences producing drama for the company. Joining Meghan Lyvers’ wonderful team is an incredible opportunity for me to work with the very best of British talent, both established and new, and to support bold, ambitious work that will surprise and delight audiences.”

Lyvers added, “We are excited to welcome Katherine Butler and Adrian Sturges to Sky Studios as we accelerate on our commitment to build an increasingly ambitious and provocative slate of premium dramas. Katherine and Adrian are each respected and seasoned executives in the creative community and, together with our wider team, we cannot wait to bring audiences even more premium Sky originals of scale and prominence.”