Barcroft hires for restructure

UK producer Barcroft Media is reorganising its operational structure with a series of hires and changes affecting divisions including its production and development arms.

Sam Barcroft

Parent company Barcroft Holdings has been renamed Barcroft Studios, with editorial content and distribution business Barcroft Media along with Barcroft Productions (linear and digital TV production) and branded content arm Barcroft Plus being phased out.

The company’s 60-strong team will now all work under the Barcroft Studios corporate brand, organised under production, development, commercial and operations divisions.

The company said the changes, implemented by the Barcroft Studios board, comprising CEO Sam Barcroft, creative director Alex Morris and MD Caspar Norman, better reflected the growing opportunities for content.

Former Wall to Wall Media exec Louise Murray joins as head of production, while ex-Spun Gold/Knickerbockerglory head of development Danny Whitfield will oversee external development.

Former BBC3 deputy editor Lizzie Wingham will also join as editorial commissioner, supporting the in-house production team, as Barcroft Studios increases its investment in original IP development and content production.

Barcroft Studios has also hired former Off The Fence commercial exec Georgina Eyre to help manage demand from distributors and broadcasters in the role of distribution consultant.

The company said the changes had been made after it saw revenue generated by the company’s digital content increase tenfold from January to December 2018. It said both Barcroft original series and the selling of shows to platforms including Facebook Watch and Snapchat had fuelled the growth.

Barcroft said its shows reached one billion monthly views in November with over 30 million followers across social media platforms. Its slate includes 15 returning series with dedicated pages and audience communities on Facebook Watch, and eight shows on Snapchat Discover.

The company has also worked with companies including ITV Studios Global Entertainment to turn digital IP into programming for linear networks. Recent deals for shows such as Beast Buddies have involved Discovery in Australia and New Zealand, Viasat for Pan Central and Eastern Europe and across the Nordics, as well as Seven Network in Australia.

Barcroft Studios’ CEO Sam Barcroft said the company had “reimagined our group to best exploit the opportunities we’re seeing emerging from creating and distributing successful content.”

Other Barcroft businesses, press agency Barcroft Wire and photographic agency Barcroft Images, will be unaffected by the restructure. Channel 4 invested in Barcroft Holdings in 2016 via its Growth Fund.