Wildstar Films Hires SVP of Development & Production

Wildstar Films, a Bristol-based natural-history producer, has appointed Doug Mackay-Hope as senior VP of development and production.

Mackay-Hope was previously head of development for the BBC Natural History Unit, where he oversaw such projects as Big Blue Live, Attenborough and the Giant Dinosaur and Endangered for Discovery, as well as Blue Planet II and Seven Worlds. Before joining the BBC, he worked for Icon Films and Tigress, creating Deadly 60 and working on River Monsters with Jeremy Wade for Discovery.

The new hire follows the recent appointments of Juli Porter as COO and Anwar Mamon as staff executive producer. Porter joined Wildstar from her previous position as COO of Whisper, while Mamon joined from the BBC Natural History Unit.

Vanessa Berlowitz and Mark Linfield, co-founders of Wildstar Films, said: “Wildstar has enjoyed a period of rapid growth over the past year. We’ve expanded our business with clients across streamers and broadcasters, and we are now in production on a wide range of exciting series with high-profile talent attached. Doug, Juli and Anwar joining our leadership team will help us build on this success and continue to broaden Wildstar’s slate and clients.”

Mackay-Hope added: “I’m super excited to be joining the creative powerhouse that is Mark, Vanessa and team Wildstar—they have already come so far so quickly, and it’s only just the beginning. And as a person that likes to push boundaries and parameters—Wildstar is definitely the right place to be able to do that.”