BBC Studios launches production arm in Australia
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Editor
| 18 February 2018

With a first commission from ABC for Stargazing Live 2, BBC Studios is up and running down under with a new hub in Australia.


The move is the first major development overseas since the BBC announced that BBC Worldwide and BBC Studios were to form a single commercial organisation under the latter brand from 1 April 2018. BBC Studios will appoint a director of production for its production arm in Australia. This role will be tasked with launching and managing the growth of television production in Australia, building creative partnerships between BBC Studios’ editorial teams in the UK and Australian broadcasters.

Looking at the first commission, Stargazing Live will be the multi-platform television event which inspires the nation to ‘look up’ and appreciate the unique wonders of space and our cosmos. It will be produced for ABC locally by an expert team from BBC Studios’ Science Unit in the UK, including executive producer Helen Thomas and series producer Paul King. BBC Studios’ Science Unit format was first produced by the same team as a three-day event for ABC by FremantleMedia Australia in March last year.

Commenting on the commission, Lisa Opie, managing director, factual at BBC Studios, said: “We’re delighted to be working so closely with ABC on Stargazing Live 2 after the huge success of last year's programme [presented by Professor Brian Cox and Dara O'Briain, pictured]. Stargazing is science programming at its very best and Andrew Cohen and his brilliant team in the Science Unit have enjoyed evolving and developing the format specifically for ABC’s audience."

ABC head of factual Steve Bibb added: “Stripped over three nights, Stargazing Live was a new kind of event programming for ABC in 2017. It reached an incredible number of Australians right across all our platforms and on social media. Our viewers even discovered a new solar system in a major citizen science project. ABC is thrilled to be working closely with BBC Studios to make Stargazing Live an even bigger and more exciting event this year.”

The new director of production will report into the international production division which, from April, will be led Anna Mallett, managing director, production and COO, BBC Studios. The role will also form part of the ANZ executive management team. Jon Penn, managing director of BBC Worldwide ANZ, will continue to lead the company in this territory as it transitions to BBC Studios in April. Penn remarked: “The new BBC Studios has got off to a great start in Australia with the Stargazing Live 2 commission and this new role will spearhead the growth of our Australian production arm. We’re looking forward to producing more of our own formats and programmes for local clients, who already broadcast many of the quality shows that our expert BBC production colleagues make.”