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Netflix’s Tesha Crawford joins UIS as senior VP, global scripted series

Universal International Studios (UIS) has named former Netflix exec Tesha Crawford as senior VP, global scripted series.

Tesha Crawford

Reporting to UIS president Beatrice Springborn, London-based Crawford will be charged with expanding UIS’s scripted slate in the UK and Europe, with particular emphasis on scouting and packaging new projects for UIS and supporting its stable of talent deals and production partnerships.

Crawford, who most recently served as director of global franchises at Netflix, will also head up the UK-based creative team at UIS, which sits under Universal Studio Group.

She will also partner with LA-based Kelsey Balance, senior VP, global scripted series, who leads the US-based team across all global territories. Projects being shepherded by Balance include The Plotters with Soo Hugh, Apples Never Fall with Heyday Television for Peacock and The Day of the Jackal for Sky and Peacock.

Crawford joined Netflix in 2017 as one of the first content executives on its international originals team. Initially, she worked in Latin America and helped build Netflix’s slate of originals in the region, including La Casa De Las Flores (The House of Flowers), Ingobernable, 3%, Coisa Mais Linda (Girls from Ipanema) and Sintonia.

She later moved to Amsterdam to head up Netflix’s first dedicated Nordics series team, working on series such as Quicksand, Ragnarok, Home for Christmas, The Chestnut Man and Young Wallander, before relocating to London where she oversaw shows based on existing IP such as The Witcher and Millarworld. Before arriving at Netflix, Crawford was senior VP of scripted development at Superb Entertainment in New York and before that she was a director of development at Marvel Entertainment.

Springborn said: “Tesha is such a force and is so respected for her exceptional taste and eye for identifying great global talent.”

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