Off the Fence Bristol Restructures Management Amid Expansion

Off the Fence’s Bristol team has promoted Karen Meehan from head of production to COO amid the expansion of its production capacity.

Meehan, who has been with the company since 2007, will work on the company’s operational strategy, manage its budget across its four locations and help implement goal-setting, performance management, productivity and secure infrastructure. She will also oversee the renovation and expansion of the Bristol facilities.

The Bristol location is expanding its production capacity in order to meet the surge in demand following its 2021 Academy Award for My Octopus Teacher. Two new buildings are currently being renovated and, once completed, will increase capacity from six to 14 in-house editing suites, with the possibility of expanding to 20 suites by repurposing office space. The project will also deliver an additional 13 offices with room to house 68 people, along with next-generation postproduction facilities with ingest stations and online, graphics and grading suites.

In her new role, Meehan will work closely with Off the Fence’s Amsterdam-based CEO, Bo Stehmeier, and Bristol-based chief creative officer, Allison Bean.

Meehan brings more than 30 years of experience in television to the role, having worked for the BBC, PBS, Discovery, National Geographic, ITV and Animal Planet.

Meehan said: “OTF is a fantastic company, populated with wonderful people, and I am looking forward to helping drive its new operational strategy and to implement ways in which our shared vision can become a reality.”

Bean commented: “For the last two decades, our Bristol production base has quietly been making some of the best wildlife programming in the world—a fact that was finally recognized last year with the Oscar for My Octopus Teacher. Karen’s appointment and this investment in our facilities will enable us to bring more, and even better, nonscripted storytelling to the world, produced by a more diverse team in a greener, kinder production environment.”