Following two internal promotions, new managing directors have been named for the Fremantle UK unscripted labels Naked and Thames.<\/p>\n
Tom O\u2019Brien, current acting managing director of Naked, has been appointed to the position on a permanent basis. At Thames, Charlie Irwin moves up from director of programs to managing director. Both will be tasked with driving the strategic direction of the labels, overseeing both the creative and commercial output.<\/p>\n
The positions will report directly to Amelia Brown, who was appointed CEO of Fremantle UK in April 2023.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Brien has worked at Naked since 2016, having led the creation and development of all new content and helped define Naked\u2019s presence in the unscripted genre. Prior to his time at Naked, he led development teams at U.K. independent production companies Remarkable Television, TwoFour and Electric Ray.<\/p>\n
Irwin started his career over 20 years ago at Thames on the first season of The X Factor<\/em>. Having worked at various companies producing shows such as I\u2019m a Celebrity\u2026<\/em>, Saturday Night Takeaway<\/em> and The Brits<\/em>, he returned to Thames to executive produce The X Factor<\/em> and Britain\u2019s Got Talent<\/em>.<\/p>\n Additionally, Leilah Mason has been appointed head of production and Helen Moore as deputy head of production at Thames, reporting to Irwin. Both Mason and Moore first joined the label in 2000 as production coordinators.<\/p>\n Brown said: \u201cI am beyond thrilled to be able to promote Charlie and Tom into these roles. Both have spent a long time helping their respective labels become the best in class, and I am so excited to see where they will take them.<\/p>\n \u201cTom has been paramount in growing Naked from a smaller factual entertainment label to one of the biggest in the business. He\u2019s hugely creative, and his ability to create and sell formats is second to none.<\/p>\n \u201cOver at Thames, Charlie is an expert in entertainment production and also a fantastic leader. After two decades with the business, he is the heart of all Thames programming and is extremely passionate about what we do. Thames is also so lucky to have Leilah and Helen make up the senior team\u2014they are two of the most brilliant production minds who can run any show of any size.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Brien said: \u201cI am happy and excited to take on a more senior leadership role at Naked. The company has grown at light speed from a start-up eight years ago into one of the most dynamic unscripted production companies in the U.K.. Working with the exceptional team here, U.K. networks and the streamers, I know we can propel further and higher still.\u201d<\/p>\n Irwin commented: \u201cI am so excited to be offered this opportunity at Thames, a company that I’ve called home for over 20 years. It has a remarkable history, leading the industry in entertainment for over 50 years. I\u2019m also delighted that Leilah and Helen are part of the team\u2014they bring a huge wealth of skill and commitment to everything they do, and their combined experience and energy is unmatched. Working with this incredible team at Thames, I’m confident we can grow and expand on Thames\u2019 success in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Following two internal promotions, new managing directors have been named for the Fremantle UK unscripted labels Naked and Thames.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":350,"featured_media":9776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[3114,3115,3116,3117,3118,2117,1011,3119],"class_list":["post-9775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-top-stories","tag-amelia-brown","tag-charlie-irwin","tag-fremantle-uk","tag-helen-moore","tag-leilah-mason","tag-naked","tag-thames","tag-tom-obrien","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\n