BBC Productions hires fact ent director

BBC Studios (BBCS) Productions has appointed Spun Gold founder Juliet Rice as creative director for factual entertainment in the south-west of England and Northern Ireland.

Juliet Rice

Rice was previously at prodco Spun Gold, which she started in 2004 to work on reality series and documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4.

In 2006, she joined Twofour as head of factual entertainment where she worked for nine years on programmes including Heston Blumenthal’s Big Chef Takes on Little Chef, Choccywoccydoodah and Kitchen Impossible with Michel Roux Jr.

In 2015, she returned to Spun Gold to become head of Spun Gold West in Bristol, responsible for shows including Garden Rescue and Love Your Garden.

In her new role at BBCS Productions, which she takes up in September, Rice will be tasked with winning new business from a range of broadcasters and platforms as well as cultivating BBCS’s IP.

She will be based in Bristol but will be genre lead for the firm’s production bases in Bristol, Cardiff and Belfast. She will provide senior editorial support to the production teams, build on the company’s portfolio and work on the development and production of new ideas.

Programmes in her remit will include Antiques Roadshow, Countryfile, DIY SOS and Gardeners’ World.

The news follows the recent appointment of Adeline Ramage Rooney as creative director for factual entertainment and events in Scotland, based at BBCS Productions’ Glasgow hub.

Last week, BBCS Productions also hired Abigail Priddle as creative director for history and arts in the documentary unit.