BBC hires ABC exec for Storyville

The BBC has appointed an executive from ABC in Australia to take on the role previously held by Nick Fraser at its feature documentary strand Storyville, with a remit across commissioning and acquisitions.

Mandy Chang

Mandy Chang becomes commissioning editor of Storyville and replaces Kate Townsend, who had been in interim charge of the high-profile factual strand following Fraser’s departure in 2016.

Townsend revealed she was leaving the public broadcaster last month to join Netflix.

Chang has spent the past four-and-a-half years at the Aussie public broadcaster as head of arts and, more recently, acting head of non-scripted television across the entertainment, factual, live events and arts departments.

Prior to that, she worked as a documentary filmmaker, writer, series producer and executive producer for UK producers and broadcasters. Her credits include feature documentary The Mona Lisa Curse, which was produced for Channel 4.

Chang, who started her career at the BBC as a trainee assistant producer and then as a freelance filmmaker, said following Fraser and Townsend in her new role “is both daunting and exciting.”

As part the position, Chang will lead factual acquisitions for BBC content, supported by Hayley Reynolds, who has been appointed assistant commissioner for Storyville. Jo Lapping has also joined the team as assistant commissioner for acquisitions.

Reynolds has spent the past decade producing for directors including Morgan Matthews, John Dower and Bruce Goodison, with credits on BBC3 doc Our War and Keeping Britain Alive for BBC2.

Lapping joins from UK prodco Minnow Films, where she worked across broadcast and theatrical documentaries. Before that, she was BBC strand manager, responsible for a broad portfolio of programming across Storyville and BBC factual acquisitions.

Clare Sillery, head of commissioning for BBC documentaries, said Chang would “bring with her a genuine passion for and commitment to Storyville and international feature documentaries.”

She added: “Her work both as a filmmaker and, more recently, as a factual commissioner means she will also bring an experienced eye to acquisitions across all the factual genres. ”

Cassian Harrison, channel editor at BBC4, said Chang would “do a terrific job building what is one the BBC’s most important programme strands with her inimitable blend of insight, experience and passion.”

Fraser left his role as editor of the Storyville strand in September last year after 17 years with the pubcaster.

He had headed the feature docs strand since its inception in 1999 and has since launched Yaddo, a documentary streaming service he has co-founded.