Merman boosts exec roles to expand

Aisling Bea in This Way Up

Catastrophe producer Merman TV has made promotions and appointments to its board as part of its ongoing expansion strategy.

Rebecca Parkinson, head of production since January 2018, will become managing director of the London-based TV division and a member of the Merman TV board.

Since joining Merman from FremantleMedia UK, Parkinson has worked alongside co-founders Clelia Mountford and Sharon Horgan, overseeing its flagship projects.

Key shows include two series of BBC1’s Motherland and two series of BAFTA-winning There She Goes (BBC/[email protected]), in addition to Women on the Verge for UKTV, Frayed (SKY/ABC) and This Way Up starring Aisling Bea and Sharon Horgan (Channel 4/Hulu).

Rebecca Kerley is taking on the role of head of production, having first worked with Merman in 2018 as a line producer on a number of shows including Frayed before becoming production executive.

Prior to Merman, Kerley worked as a freelance line producer on a wealth of primetime hit shows including This Time with Alan Partridge, Inside No 9 Live, Murder in Successville, and TFI Friday. Rebecca trained at the BBC for 14 years, where she progressed her career working on shows such as Top of the Pops, Ab Fab, and Comic Relief.

Jackie Sidey, meanwhile, becomes Merman’s finance director and fellow board member, having already overseen accounting for all of Merman’s output since its creation.

Sidey has previously worked with companies including Tiger Aspect, Brown Eyed Boy, and King Bert and has held roles from production accountant to head of finance.

The appointments follow the recent news that Sky has signed a two-year overhead funding and first-look distribution deal with Merman.