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Leopard pounces on creative officer

Leopard USA, part of the Argonon group of production companies, has appointed a former Nutopia exec as its first chief creative officer.

Simon McKeown

Simon McKeown

Simon McKeown joins the New York-based firm on January 18 from US prodco Eastern, where he was senior VP of development.

He is tasked with leading Leopard USA’s creative expansion and will report to Argonon CEO James Burstall.

McKeown will develop the company’s slate of formatted series and will follow docs for the US market. He will also oversee the firm’s existing slate, which includes HGTV’s House Hunters International, DIY’s Man Caves and CNBC’s The Filthy Rich Guide.

The exec joined Eastern in January last year after a stint as head of development at Jane Root’s Nutopia in the UK, where he sold series including Bear Grylls’ Great British Adventures for ITV.

Before that McKeown had been head of development for Love Productions, where he developed Benefits Street, Why Don’t You Speak English? and How Sherlock Changed the World. He has also had stints as a development producer for the BBC and was Zig Zag’s first development chief.

The latest news follows Leopard USA’s hiring of Pulse Films’ Richard Cook as VP of talent.

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