Australia’s WTFN Appoints New Head of Development

WTFN, the Australian indie producer behind such hits as Bondi Vet, has tapped Stephen Peters as its new head of development.

Peters has been working with WTFN for nearly a year as a contracted consultant, acting as executive producer on the ob-doc series Sydney Harbour Force, which is being produced for Discovery Australia, New Zealand and the U.K.

Previously, Peters was at Nine Network, where he recently executive produced True Medical and Inside Crime and was an executive producer on Australian Survivor. At Eyeworks, he served as head of television, managing all the company’s output, which included series such as Kalgoorlie Cops and Gangs of Oz. At Fremantle, he oversaw the production of the first season of Australian Idol. He also spent three years as head of development at Endemol Southern Star.

With WTFN, Peters will be responsible for expanding the development slate by creating more returning documentary and access series, as well as branching out into other factual genres.

Daryl Talbot, WTFN’s CEO, said: “Stephen has made a significant contribution to WTFN over the past few months, so we are delighted to have him on board as a permanent member of the senior team. Our expansion and increased output in the past year is testament to a talented and dedicated team but now, with Stephen adding his tremendous experience and charged with increasing our content pipeline, we are hoping to turbo-charge this growth trajectory and bring more hours and even more fresh new program ideas to the market.”

Peters commented: “Having already spent some time at WTFN, when the offer of head of development was made, I didn’t hesitate to accept. Daryl and co-founder Steve Oemcke have built a terrific company, underpinned by an authentic feeling of constant forward momentum. They are very open to new ideas and different ways of doing things, so I am genuinely excited by the opportunities this new challenge brings.”