NBCU confirms Brown, poaches Hat Trick exec
NBC Universal (NBCU) has confirmed Alan Brown’s appointment as entertainment head for its London-based TV production division, as revealed by C21 last month, and has also poached Hat Trick Productions’ head of comedy.
Brown – a former BBC, Diverse Production and Silver River exec – will run the new entertainment and factual divisions, while Mario Stylianides, who has been head of comedy at London-based Hat Trick since 2003, joins as head of comedy.
“Attracting executives of Alan and Mario’s calibre speaks to how we are building NBC Universal into a ‘first-stop’ destination for the UK’s top creative talent,” said Gareth Neame, UK MD for NBCU International TV Production.
“Our UK strategy lies in organic growth driven by local expertise, and the UK is home to one of the world’s best talent pools for production. It is a real coup to have both Alan and Mario join the team.”
The hires follow NBCU’s acquisition of UK indie Monkey Kingdom for an undisclosed sum last month. As part of their appointments, NBCU will launch new TV production brands under the execs’ leadership, to produce content for the UK market and drive the company’s international format business.
Stylianides’ brand is yet to be named, but Brown’s bespoke production label will be called Chocolate Media, aiming to produce quality factual and entertainment content for the UK.
“In addition to building the team, we are defining production brands under the NBCU umbrella, each with their own expertise and editorial voice,” Neame added.
“Carnival stands for quality, highly-produced drama; Monkey gives us non-scripted entertainment with a fresh, original view; and Alan with his expertise in factual and entertainment, will build Chocolate Media into an equally strong non-scripted brand. We expect Mario to build out a strong comedy brand for NBCU as well.”
In addition to scripted content, Brown and Stylianides will look to generate a pipeline of ideas for non-scripted series to support the format business led by senior VP of format sales and production Yvonne Pilkington.
In a statement, NBCU president of international television production Michael Edelstein said: “The UK represents an important global market for NBCU. As such, it was critical to put in place the proper building blocks for our future growth.
“In Gareth, Alan and Mario we have three of the best creative minds and experienced producers in the business. I am confident that NBCU will now become a leading destination for top creative talent, and that our new production brands will deliver innovative content for the UK and the rest of the world.”
The hires all come after Edelstein recently told C21TV he was in the midst of appointing heads of drama, comedy and entertainment in the UK, indicating that the company is still on the hunt of a senior drama exec.
