Working with various clients in USA, Ireland and Scotland on broadcast and branded content.

Author of darkly funny thriller - currently with agents seeking representation.ELEVATOR PITCH Eco-terrorists are blowing the country to pieces. Meanwhile the broken body of an old woman in the remote Scottish Highlands connects the present to the Cold War gold reserve of the UK and a violent drug lord who's just not ready for change. SAMPLEDarren Oakham lived in Potters Bar and did the night shift at the big petrol station. He lived at home which was tough on his parents Tricia and Gary. Though, with him being 28 years old working nights they could pretend this wasn't the case. They were not yet retired but it was coming and they enjoyed their evenings watching the news, the soaps and sometimes natural history,  “Well if we have to pay for the channel we might as well use it” Tricia would say to Gary. Truth is she was interested even if he wasn’t. They tried not to worry about Darren. Middle of the night all you got was walk-in students from a bleak nearby campus (not exactly the dreaming spires of Oxford), cops, taxi drivers, truck drivers, adulterous husbands and occasionally wives, and the fuel tank delivery drivers. As scheduled, Jake the tanker driver, who was distinctively fat, with a shaggy thin head of hair, had pulled up on the far edge next to pump number three.“Evening Darren. Been rushed off your feet then I bet?” always asked the same question, the same joke.“You could do with some rushing around you fat fuck"“Alright mate, no need for that - I’ll need the key for the bog. There’s paper in there right? I need a shit.”Shaking his head in disgust Darren threw him the key. 
Just as Jake caught the key a small flash of light caused them both to look through the glass to the forecourt so that moments later they could witness but not comprehend the vast fireball and percussive blast which would shatter the glass and compress and crush their lungs milliseconds before the flames would scorch their already dead bodies.

Reporting to the CEO I led on development and sales of all new content from this New York based (and then German media group ProSeiben Sat1 owned, now North Road) business. Despite the inherent challenge of running a (superb) team and building a client base all over video conferencing from Glasgow, UK - we had great success with sales to Hulu, TLC, VH1, Reelz, Discovery, Netflix & Epix and significant developments with ABC, Vice, Nat Geo and Amazon. Regular pitching with all major us cable and network and streamers plus occasional market trips in UK at C4, BBC, ITV.With a full - post Covid - return to New York office the timing was natural as sole UK based employee to exit the business.

During the main Covid lockdowns I was working in predominantly voluntary roles in various sports bodies, local social community politics and creative projects.

Nice work if you can get it.

Reporting to the Global Head of Content, I curated & led a network of colleagues and production partners worldwide to develop, produce & deliver original content. Strategically I aligned our mixed portfolio of long form, short form and social content with the broader Red Bull marketing organisation. Ultimately I ensured it found and engaged the target audiences, contributed to the needs of every area of the business, connected to the brand message and drove revenues.(My role was relocated to be permanently based in Austria - a move which I declined)

I spent much of 2015 freelancing as an EP & creative consultant, whilst developing relationships in the UK, US and Europe. My major client was DRG in the Modern Times Group who recruited me to assess, re-structure and re-launch their unscripted content pipeline. It was a major project bringing together a central distributor & over a dozen production entities across Europe to work to a brief which their parent channel group owners would also engage with.

As Creative Director of Tern (now a Zinc Media Group company) I delivered a wide range of programming ranging from heavily structured formats and talent led popular factual to documentary series and travel/adventure. I drove in millions of pounds of business expanding the client base in the UK (landing a major Discovery series "​"Big Fish Man" and enabling the financing for a new daytime C4 Series) and by opening up the USA (first work with PBS and History) and via local content with traditional clients (BBC Scotland "The Mountain"​). I rebooted the entire development process & secured valuable partnerships with key off and on screen talent. I signed Tern up with the ICM agency in the USA and instigated a major re-brand of the company image.I was a company director and sat on the board.

Promoted to re-launch the "Bullseye Productions" label I took it out of an extremely fallow period into a position of sustainable growth with multiple clients. Key productions included; formats “Gadget Geeks”, “The Witch Doctor Will See You Now” and “I Secretly Hate You”, factual series “World’s Toughest Expeditions” & “Bike Slam" and blue chip documentary specials “Eating With Cannibals” and “What’s the Earth Worth”. I also assembled a team to pitch for and win one of the original YouTube fully funded channels “Fast Furious & Funny”. After 6 years with what was Zodiak Media Group (now acquired by Banijay) I resigned to negotiate an equity based position within a creative business based in Scotland. Board member UK Group

At Diverse London (a former label of Zodiak Media Group which became Banijay Media Group), I developed & exec produced the highest rated Nat Geo special of 2009 “Search for the Amazon Headshrinkers”. I created, wrote & launched a comedy format “Think Tank” which I produced for C4 and then sold as a format to Seven Network Australia and Lifetime USA. And also oversaw growth in the Bristol office developing and producing content with History Channel (“The Recruit” and “Samurai”) and by securing a major AFP deal with Land Rover.

Based out of London and Washington DC I worked with producers, scheduling, press, marketing and business affairs on a daily basis. ordering a wide variety of series and specials from UK producers for a global network. I was part of a channel team which delivered 18 months of consecutive ratings growth.

Here I developed, pitched, produced a range of singles and series in the UK and USA including “Find me a Family” (C4), “Change the day you Die” (SKY and FOX Network USA) & "You're Not Getting a Dime" (TLC).

A key highlight was the “The Bank of Mum and Dad”. Having originated, developed and sold the idea I then produced the 1x60 pilot that launched the first series. That first series was re-ordered two more times and was BBC2’s biggest home grown Fact Ent hit of the year.