Wonderhood names unscripted chief

Wonderhood Studios, the new UK prodco from former Channel 4 and UKTV CEO David Abraham, has appointed an unscripted programming team to be led by Samantha Anstiss.

Samantha Anstiss

Anstiss will join the company as co-founder and creative director of unscripted, reporting to Abraham. She was formerly creative director of BBC Studios’ Auntie Productions, the creative label that she jointly established three years ago.

Before establishing Auntie, Anstiss was a BBC commissioner working in documentaries, features and formats. Her commissions include Life & Death Row (BBC3), Keeping Britain Alive (BBC2), The Call Centre (BBC3), A Very British Airline (BBC2) and Iceland Foods (BBC2).

She has also worked as an exec producer in current affairs and won awards for her investigative journalism. She starts at Wonderhood in October.

Emma Lorenz will also join the company as deputy creative director of unscripted overseeing development.

Emma Lorenz

Lorenz was previously director of development at Lion Television. Prior to Lion she was at the BBC and held roles including head of documentary development and head of factual entertainment development.

Before the BBC, she worked in the factual department of ITV Studios, where her commissions for ITV ranged from formats such as Popstar to Opera Star and documentaries like David Jason: The Battle of Britain. She joins Wonderhood in July.

In addition to the two new hires, the company will soon announce a team to spearhead its creative agency studio and further senior appointments across content production.

Wonderhood was unveiled as Abraham’s new venture last month following his departure from C4 last year.