BBC Studios’ Los Angeles division has promoted unscripted content chief Ryan O’Dowd to Global Productions president.
The promotion will see O’Dowd add oversight of all scripted content production and development activity to his purview, bringing the two divisions under a single leadership structure. Prior to his new role, O’Dowd was named BBC Studios’ Entertainment and Music executive vice president in 2021 and was promoted to unscripted president last year.
The new structure will allow the creative and production teams to work more closely together while providing greater leverage within the company’s wider Global Productions network, including its international creative expertise, development capabilities, production infrastructure and global partnerships.
“Los Angeles remains one of the most important creative markets for BBC Studios, and I’m incredibly excited to take on this expanded role,” O’Dowd said in a statement. “We have tremendous talent and creative ambition across both Scripted and Unscripted, and bringing our production activity together creates new opportunities to collaborate, share ideas and build on the momentum we already have.”
BBC Studios’ unscripted slate under O’Dowd includes Fox’s “The 1% Club,” “Celebrity Weakest Link” and “Nation’s Dumbest,” Netflix’s “Outlast” and ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” and “Dancing with the Stars The Next Pro.” Meanwhile, its scripted slate includes CBS’ “Ghosts,” Fox’s “Mammoth,” “Welcome to Flatch” and “Call Me Kat” and HBO’s “The Night Of” and “Getting On.”
“Bringing our Los Angeles production activity together under Ryan’s leadership gives us an opportunity to build an even more connected and collaborative creative business in one of the most important television markets in the world,” BBC Studios’ Global Productions President Matt Forde added. “We have an exciting pipeline of scripted development with some of the leading buyers in the U.S., and this structure puts us in a strong position to build on that momentum while drawing on the full breadth of BBC Studios’ creative and production expertise around the world.”
In addition to O’Dowd’s promotion, BBC Studios said it is refining its approach to scripted production. It noted the business would remain “firmly multi-genre” with a dedicated scripted focus operating within the broader L.A. production operation under O’Dowd. As a result of the move, Scripted L.A. President Mark Linsey and Scripted L.A. EVP Angie Stephenson will exit the company.
Linsey departs following a career spanning more than two decades within the BBC Group. He previously served as Entertainment Controller, where he helped shape programs including “Strictly Come Dancing,” “Top Gear,” “The Graham Norton Show” and “MasterChef,” as well as Acting Director of Television. Launching BBC Studios as a commercial business in 2016 and it’s merger with BBC Worldwide in 2018, he most recently spearheaded the growth of scripted portfolio titles including “Good Omens,” “Doctor Who,” “Happy Valley,” “Baby Reindeer” and the Oscar-winning “Conclave.”
Meanwhile, Stephenson has worked at the company and its predecessors for nearly 20 years and is moving into producing. During her tenure in BBC Studios Los Angeles’ scripted division, she worked on Fox’s “Mammoth” and “Welcome to Flatch,” HBO’s “Getting On” and “Night Of” and CBS’ “Ghosts,” collaborating with talent on both sides of the Atlantic to bring British creative ideas and formats to American audiences.
“I’ve been fortunate to work with Mark for more than a decade, both in the U.S. and the UK. He has had an exceptional career across the BBC and BBC Studios and has made an enormous contribution to our creative success and to the wider television industry. We are incredibly grateful for his leadership, vision and commitment, and wish him every success in his next chapter,” he said. “I also want to thank Angie for the significant impact she has made on our Scripted business in L.A., where she’s been instrumental in developing our slate, building important creative relationships and helping bring some fantastic shows to American audiences. We wish her all the very best as she now moves into producing.”
