Great Scott hires for development, production

All3Media-backed UK prodco Great Scott Media has hired a head of development and a head of production.

Sonia Sohal

Sonia Sohal will lead development at the three-year-old company, with Nadia Afiari taking charge of production.

Sohal has previously worked at fellow UK prodcos Raw, Studio Ramsay and Lion TV, with development credits including Fantastical Factory of Curious Craft (Channel 4), Joanna Lumley’s India (ITV), Child Genius (C4) and Uncharted (Nat Geo). Among her production credits are Desi Rascals (Sky), Dragons’ Den (BBC) and Child Genius (C4).

Afiari has also worked for multiple UK prodcos. She was most recently production executive at South Shore, before which she spent time at Definitely and Talkback. Her credits include reality and factual entertainment hits Too Hot to Handle (Netflix), Harry’s Heroes and Don’t Rock The Boat (ITV), as well as The Hairy Bikers Go North (BBC2).

Nadia Afiari

The news comes as Great Scott Media moves into new offices in Aldgate, London, having been based at All3Media’s headquarters since launching in January 2020.

The company, which was founded by Talkback MD Ed Sleeman and Talkback Thames MD Leon Wilson, has three series currently in production and a number of other projects in late-stage development.

Sleeman and Wilson, joint MDs of Great Scott Media, said: “Nadia will be instrumental in bringing our three series currently in production to fruition and Sonia will be in charge of creating new and fresh formats, focusing on both broadcasters and streaming platforms in the UK and global markets. Having the top team now in place at Great Scott makes us very excited for the future.”