Beach House hires for int’l production

L to R: Suzy Hounslow, Rob Sixsmith, Geraldine Orrock and Susan Zhao

Blue Ant Studios-owned Beach House Pictures (BHP) has added four more members to its executive ranks to bolster its international and China production capacity.

Suzy Hounslow, executive in charge of production, Rob Sixsmith, head of factual, Geraldine Orrock, head of unscripted, and Susan Zhao, business director, China, are joining the production company’s senior management team.

In a newly created role, Hounslow will supervise and provide quality control for BHP’s international output. She joins after over 10 years at Australia’s Seven Studios, where she oversaw 500 hours of factual, reality and scripted shows annually, including My Kitchen Rules.

Hounslow will report to founders Jocelyn Little, MD, and Donovan Chan, creative director.

Sixsmith is a Bafta-winning showrunner from the UK who worked across a range of factual genres and directed global talent such as Bear Grylls and Levison Wood. He helmed Discovery US factual show Gold Rush and the BHP and Discovery International series Ed Stafford: First Man Out.

Orrock, meanwhile, has developed and managed shows including The Voice, First Dates and My Kitchen Rules in Australia, and started up the Australian office of Warner Bros International Television.

As head of unscripted, Orrock will spearhead BHP’s development of original formats and executive produce key shows.

In China, BHP has enlisted business director Zhao, who has extensive experience as a producer and branded content expert across the industries of film production, advertising and marketing.

An ex-Ogilvy and Leo Burnett senior executive, Zhao served as CEO of the production company that produced crime drama Mystery.

“Beach House Pictures is proud of its legacy as one of Asia’s largest indie producers and we have an incredibly diverse team of talent here in-house. With this impressive addition to our roster of production executives, we are ready to aggressively grow our business in the US, China and beyond,” said Little.