BBC Studios has tapped Channel 4 alum Karl Warner as executive VP of U.K. entertainment and digital development to establish and lead a new creative unit within its recently formed global entertainment business.<\/p>\n
Warner\u2019s new team will be tasked with creating new IP and formats for the BBC and other U.K. and global platforms. His unit will partner with BBC Studios\u2019 global entertainment teams around the world, particularly in the U.S., to reimagine international ideas for the U.K. market.<\/p>\n
Those adaptations will be produced by the new entertainment production business led by Suzy Lamb, managing director for U.K. entertainment.<\/p>\n
Warner will also oversee the creation of new labels and creatively supporting existing labels, such as the recently launched Rebel Pictures, to support their growth and establish and expand BBC Studios\u2019 content portfolio.<\/p>\n
He will report to Matt Forde, global entertainment managing director.<\/p>\n
Warner has over 15 years of senior industry leadership experience. He has held commissioning roles at the BBC and Channel 4 and founded his own production company, Electric Ray, in partnership with Sony Pictures Entertainment. He joined Channel 4 in 2018 as the new controller of E4 and oversaw Channel 4\u2019s entertainment department, brokering deals for hits such as Taskmaster<\/em> and I Literally Just Told You<\/em>. He was behind the successful brand strategy of Married at First Sight UK<\/em>, making it E4\u2019s highest rated show in the history of the channel and Channel 4\u2019s number one streaming brand of all time. He also extended the global hit franchise First Dates<\/em> with four seasons of Teen First Dates<\/em>.<\/p>\n Previously, Warner held roles at NBC\u2019s Monkey Kingdom and at Endemol, where he was a senior producer on Big Brother<\/em>. He was also part of the BBC in-hour team that helped develop Strictly Come Dancing<\/em>\u2019s first season. He was the BBC\u2019s youngest ever commissioning editor at 26 and helped to create brands like Russell Howard\u2019s Good News and Junior Doctors for BBC Three, as well as Michael McIntyre\u2019s Comedy Roadshow and John Bishop\u2019s Britain for BBC One.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m delighted that someone of Karl\u2019s experience and inventiveness has joined BBC Studios to help us supercharge our ambitions,\u201d Forde said. \u201cEstablishing a flexible hub of creative talent to develop UK hit shows across multiple platforms with an innovative, global, and future-looking approach for audiences has been a priority since setting up [the] global entertainment [unit]. I can\u2019t wait to see what he and the new team working across the U.K. and world create.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAfter over a decade, I\u2019m thrilled to be back at the BBC with a new global perspective and joining BBC Studios in a creative leadership role at such an exciting time,\u201d Warner said. \u201cWith its huge scale, rich catalog of IP and second-to-none talent relationships, I can\u2019t think of a better place to be, creating new ideas that speak to the next generation of audiences, alongside Suzy and the amazing teams in the group.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" BBC Studios has tapped Channel 4 alum Karl Warner as executive VP of U.K. entertainment and digital development to establish and lead a new creative unit within its recently formed global entertainment business.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1412,"featured_media":10845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[1337,3941,3184],"class_list":["post-10844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-bbc-studios","tag-karl-warner","tag-matt-forde","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\n