Raw lands Studio Lambert exec for scripted

UK-based film and TV production company Raw has hired an executive from All3Media stablemate Studio Lambert in a newly created role heading up scripted development.

Sara Murray has joined Raw, best known for producing feature docs such as Three Identical Strangers, as head of scripted TV.

Murray joins from Studio Lambert, where she was an executive producer on the 10-part Amazon/Virgin Media series The Feed, by Channing Powell (The Walking Dead).

The exec also developed a slate of high-end returning series for both terrestrial and international broadcasters, including Girl on a Wire by Thomas Martin (Tin Star).

Murray will be tasked with growing Raw’s scripted TV division as the prodco looks to build on its recent success with documentary Three Identical Strangers and narrative feature film American Animals, directed by Bart Layton.

Its scripted TV development slate features a mix of projects with established and up-and-coming writers including Clio Barnard, Lucy Kirkwood, Tom Edge and Juliette Towhidi, alongside Bart Layton’s first scripted TV commission. Raw is also currently in production with multiple series for Netflix, CNN and Discovery.

Murray’s previous roles include script editor on Andrew Davies’ Dr Zhivago (ITV), developing Tony Marchant’s Whistleblowers (ITV), TV development producer on Top Boy (Cowboy Films/Channel 4) and script editor on BBC soap EastEnders.

She has also worked at Channel 4 as development editor, working across series including Misfits by Howard Overman, The Devil’s Whore by Peter Flannery and Red Riding by Tony Grisoni.

“With a growing and really exciting slate of TV projects for the UK and international networks and SVoD platforms – and a growing slate of feature films heading into production – it’s a great moment for Sara to join the team,” said Raw founder Dimitri Doganis.

Three Identical Strangers has grossed US$15m at the US box office and has won over 10 further awards, while American Animals has won five.

The firm recently finished production on feature film Dream Horse, starring Toni Collette and Damian Lewis. It currently has two more films scheduled for production and nine in funded development.

This includes the narrative adaptation of Three Identical Strangers by Bohemian Rhapsody screenwriter Anthony McCarten; Bart Layton’s next film, Ravens, by writer Peter Straughan; and Bafta-winning director Michael Pearce’s second film, Invasion, written by Joe Barton.