UK prodco Boom promotes Hollie Abbott to director of development

ITV Studios-backed UK production company Boom has promoted Hollie Abbott to director of development.

Hollie Abbott

Abbott joined Cardiff-based Boom as a development exec at the end of 2020, having previously held development roles at Reef TV and the wider Zinc Media Group, Firecracker, Keshet and STV Studios.

She subsequently went on to secure Boom’s BBC Three/BBC Wales co-commission Hot Cakes. The new series follows the young team behind a Cardiff-based bakery and was generated as a result of the creative partnership between BBC Three, BBC Wales and Creative Wales, which launched in November 2020.

Abbott, whose other credits include Channel 4’s The Undateables, Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over on W, Great British Menu on BBC Two and Dave’s Special Ops: Crime Squad UK, will now focus on growing the development team and working on more original programming for Boom’s growing network slate.

The promotion comes after ViacomCBS-owned Channel 5 greenlit a third season of Boom’s Skin A&E, which looks at the extreme dermatology conditions dealt with by a specialist clinic.

Nia Thomas, MD of Boom, said: “Hollie is an exceptional development lead with a real flair for popular factual, factual entertainment and reality formats, and I am delighted that she is stepping up into this new role. She is an innately intuitive creative who inspires and motivates her team.

“Our aim is to continue to build a strong slate of returnable formats and help grow a first-class talent base here in Wales, and with Hollie at the helm, this is a wholly achievable ambition for Boom. I can’t wait to continue to work with her and to support her in her new role.”

Abbott added: “Having grown up in Cornwall and with a mixed Cornish and Welsh heritage, it’s amazing to have come back to my roots to one of the UK nations’ production powerhouses. There is a real momentum at Boom right now with multiple funded developments and I’m very excited about leading a truly talented team and building on the company’s reputation for quality programming.”

Boom Group houses production divisions Boom Cymru, Boom Kids and Boom Social, as well as Welsh post-production facility Gorilla and visual effects and motion graphics company, Bait Studio.

ITV Studios handles global distribution for Skin A&E.