eOne, Creative England name drama chief

Polly Williams becomes head of drama

Independent studio Entertainment One (eOne) and Creative England have appointed an exec to lead drama at their recently launched joint venture.

As head of drama, Polly Williams will handle day-to-day operations at Entertainment One and Creative England Television Drama Venture, which aims to attract and nurture original UK creators and to develop, finance and produce drama content for worldwide audiences.

Most recently, Williams held the role of development director at London-based drama indie Sally Head Productions, overseeing the company’s development slate. Since 2005, she has been a producer on BBC1 medical drama Holby City, on Kudos’ six-part drama Lip Service for BBC3 and on two series of primetime drama-comedy Hotel Babylon for Carnival/BBC1.

“As both the first production outfit in the UK for eOne and the maiden television initiative for Creative England, we are thrilled to officially open our doors and start to share great stories with audiences across the global marketplace,” said Carrie Stein, exec VP of global production at eOne Television.

Caroline Norbury MBE, CEO of Creative England, added: “UK drama has the ability to captivate the imaginations of audiences with international successes such as Poldark, Broadchurch, and Downton Abbey. Having Polly on board with her extensive network of contacts, her eye for a hit, and with eOne as our partner, I know we will find exciting new talent with stories from across the country which will continue to enthral people worldwide.”

Williams’ brief is to collaborate with the production community during all phases of development, production and distribution.

In addition, eOne will provide global expertise and handle worldwide distribution for all television content created via its London-based television sales headquarters.

C21 recently announced The Drama Series Script Competition, produced in association with eOne and Creative England through their recently launched venture, designed to find the next big thing in international drama.