Arrow hires for true crime slate

UK factual indie Arrow Media has hired a former BBC and Raw TV executive producer to oversee its fast-expanding line-up of true crime series.

Sam Starbuck

Arrow, which was one of the first UK indies to receive backing from Channel 4’s growth fund back in 2014, has hired Sam Starbuck as executive producer.

Starbuck has previously produced at the BBC, Raw TV and Jane Root’s indie Nutopia and worked on series including No Man Left Behind for Nat Geo, Paranormal Witness for Syfy and The British for Sky Atlantic.

She joins as Arrow – set up by former Darlow Smithson factual veterans John Smithson, Tom Brisley and Iain Pelling in 2011 – at a time of great expansion in the true crime genre.

A third season of Arrow’s See No Evil, which launched in 2015, has been commissioned by Investigation Discovery in the US.

The 13-part third run will again by coproduced with Canada’s Saloon Media and air in the country on Canal D. Entertainment One is handling global distribution.

A second season of American Monster (10×60’) is also in the works for ID.

Starbuck will executive produce the true crime slate along with Arrow co-founder and joint creative director Brisley.

Brisley told C21: “What we aim bring to it is a slightly different twist to the true crime genre, with genuine authenticity. A lot of our content has real CCTV footage, American Monster has home movie footage. It’s hyper-authentic, which is something the audience really likes. Recreation is great but if you can show them something genuine and completely real it’s so powerful.”