EXCLUSIVE: BBC Studios’ Los Angeles division is taking a new approach to scripted and has promoted its unscripted chief Ryan O’Dowd to oversee it.
O’Dowd, who was President, Unscripted, has been named President, BBC Studios Global Productions LA, bringing its scripted and unscripted operations under a single leadership structure.
As a result of the move, two executives, Mark Linsey and Angie Stephenson, will be leaving the company.
O’Dowd has had a rapid rise within BBC Studios; he was promoted to EVP, Entertainment and Music in 2021 before being named President of Unscripted last year.
The company has successfully ramped up its unscripted slate over the last twelve months; it recently launched Nation’s Dumbest to decent numbers on Fox, where it also has The 1% Club, which just aired its third season, and Celebrity Weakest Link with Jane Lynch, which is heading into season two.
Dancing with the Stars, which has been through its own renaissance, just premiered Season 35 and launched hit spinoff Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro on ABC, while survival competition series Outlast has aired three seasons on Netflix.
The idea behind the move is “designed to strengthen collaboration, creative development and production across its U.S. slate.”
On the scripted side, the company is behind series including CBS’ Ghosts and it just landed a series order for a remake of comedy Mammoth. It was also behind series such as Fox’s Welcome To Flatch, which was an adaptation of This Country, and Call Me Kat, which was an adaptation of Miranda, as well as The Night Of and Getting On for HBO.
Linsey, who was President, Scripted LA, and Stephenson, EVP, Scripted LA are leaving as a result.
Linsey, who was previously BBC Controller of Entertainment in the UK, has been in LA for three years and Stephenson has worked at the company, and its predecessors for nearly 20 years.
Stephenson is expected to stay in production.
Ryan O’Dowd said, “Los Angeles remains one of the most important creative markets for BBC Studios, and I’m incredibly excited to take on this expanded role. We have tremendous talent and creative ambition across both Scripted and Unscripted, and bringing our production activity together creates new opportunities to collaborate, share ideas and build on the momentum we already have.”
“Bringing our Los Angeles production activity together under Ryan’s leadership gives us an opportunity to build an even more connected and collaborative creative business in one of the most important television markets in the world. Ryan has proven himself to be an outstanding leader, building a terrific Unscripted slate that includes hits such as Nation’s Dumbest for Fox, Outlast for Netflix, Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro and the resurgent Dancing with the Stars for ABC,” Matt Forde, President, BBC Studios Global Productions, added. “We have an exciting pipeline of scripted development with some of the leading buyers in the U.S., and this structure puts us in a strong position to build on that momentum while drawing on the full breadth of BBC Studios’ creative and production expertise around the world.”
He also paid tribute to Linsey and Stephenson.
“I’ve been fortunate to work with Mark for more than a decade, both in the U.S. and the UK. He has had an exceptional career across the BBC and BBC Studios and has made an enormous contribution to our creative success and to the wider television industry. We are incredibly grateful for his leadership, vision and commitment, and wish him every success in his next chapter,” he said. “I also want to thank Angie for the significant impact she has made on our Scripted business in LA, where she’s been instrumental in developing our slate, building important creative relationships and helping bring some fantastic shows to American audiences. We wish her all the very best as she now moves into producing.”
