MultiStory Media promotes Haywood and hires to expand entertainment team

L-R: Jon Cahn, Simone Haywood, Ana de Moraes and Zinia Scroggs

ITV Studios-backed MultiStory Media has promoted Simone Haywood to creative director of its MultiStory London arm and made two new appointments.

Haywood, who joined MultiStory four years ago as head of factual entertainment, has delivered shows including Scared of the Dark for Channel 4, BBC Three’s Project Icon (coproduced with ITV America) and Big Flower Fight for Netflix, as well as overseeing long-running series Come Dine With Me for Channel 4.

Reporting to chief creative officer Ana de Moraes, Haywood will build on the label’s output alongside Ceri Aston, creative director of MultiStory North.

Meanwhile, Jon Cahn is joining the entertainment team as exec producer, having most recently worked on the forthcoming Channel 4 format Scared of the Dark, which is hosted by Danny Dyer and sees a group of celebrities live for eight days in the dark. His wide-ranging credits include Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins, Married at First Sight, Sink or Swim and The Bridge.

In addition, Zinia Scroggs is joining as series editor. She is currently working on Project Icon, a six-part music competition that launches this Sunday on BBC Three, featuring Jason Derulo, Becky Hill and Frank Harris as mentors to 10 aspiring recording artists.

Scroggs previously series-produced BBC Three’s Glow Up, while The Apprentice, Race Across the World and First Dates Hotel are among her other credits. Scroggs and Cahn will report to Haywood.

The new appointments are part of a strategic refocus, with the label’s slate now falling into two broad genres: entertainment, with shows such as Scared of the Dark, Project Icon and Dubai Hustle; and factual, including Paul O’ Grady’s For The Love of Dogs, The Martin Lewis Money Show and Peston.

The move follows the recent launch of the label’s documentary unit, led by head of docs and current affairs Mike Blair, which has secured its first ITVX commission, Waco: A British Tragedy, as well as building on the success of The Real… drama companion strand, with ITV ordering The Real Nolly and The Real Stonehouse to accompany the related dramas.