Possessed alum Simon Crossley to head development at Banijay’s Remarkable

Roger Johnson (left) and Simon Crossley

Former Tuesday’s Child and Possessed executive Simon Crossley has been named as the permanent head of development at Banijay UK label Remarkable Entertainment.

Crossley, who was previously head of development at ITV Studios-backed Possessed and a development exec at Tuesday’s Child, will be responsible for finding quiz, gameshow and entertainment formats in the UK and international markets. He reports to Remarkable Entertainment, Znak and Initial CEO Natalka Znak.

During his tenure at Possessed, Crossley developed formats including Keep It Spotless (Nickelodeon), Catchpoint (BBC), Unbeatable (BBC), Cash Trapped, 5 Gold Rings, The Switch and Sitting on a Fortune (all for ITV).

He has also jointly devised factual entertainment formats such as The Secret Life of Four Year Olds (Channel 4), Goodbye House (RTÉ) and Bling (ITV) and worked on the cookery competition Rat in the Kitchen (TBS).

In addition, the London-based company hired Roger Johnson as development producer, reporting to Crossley.

Johnson has nearly 10 years of working on shows including Hardball (BBC One), Race Across the World (BBC Two), The Hustler (ABC), Winning Combination (ITV) and Ant & Dec’s Limitless Win.

The appointments come around nine months after Banijay UK acquired Znak TV and appointed founder Znak as CEO of Remarkable and Initial under a new unscripted group.

“Simon is a hugely impressive head of development who has the confidence, vision and determination to create the ambitious, compelling entertainment formats we are all about,” said Znak.

“I am delighted to have him and Roger on board and am looking forward to working alongside them to create bold big new entertainment shows.”