Ranken named Commissioning Editor at National Geographic
October 12, 2026


National Geographic has appointed Alex Ranken as Commissioning Editor. He will report to Janet Han Vissering, Senior Vice President, Development & Production, Natural History, within Tom McDonald’s content organisation.

Based in the UK, Ranken will commission across the full range of natural history titles, from bluechip to kids and family, as well as emerging formats such as immersive.

anken most recently served as Creative Director of both ‘Wildlife’ and ‘Kids & Family’ at Plimsoll Studios, where he also led the company’s Immersive department. His recent credits include series such as Secret Garden with David Attenborough (BBC One), A Real Bug’s Life (Disney+), Tiny World (Apple TV+), The Wild Ones (Apple TV) and Stephen Fry’s A Year on Planet Earth (ITV).