News

ABC head of factual Phil Craig to depart

Phil CraigThe ABC’s head of factual Phil Craig is to depart the public broadcaster and return to London after accepting a role as chief creative officer for Discovery International.

Craig has been with the ABC since October 2012, with responsibility for some of ABC TV’s major documentaries including Whitlam, First Footprints, the recent Changing Minds documentary which was the centrepiece of the recent ABC Mental As… week, and also WWI Centenary series The War That Changed Us.

ABC Director of Television, Richard Finlayson, said: “During Phil’s tenure, the factual team has produced some outstanding programming including important external commissions such as Whitlam, First Footprints, Kakadu, Redesign My Brain and The Dreamhouse, but also in-house productions from the Compass and Catalyst teams and the upcoming ABC Adelaide specials on Countdown.

“We appreciate that some pressing family matters mean that Phil is departing a few months earlier than planned, but he’s left a number of excellent shows in the pipeline, including some of the expected highlights of 2015”.

In a statement Craig said he was sad to be leaving the ABC.

“I’ve loved my time working for the ABC, but family concerns made me cut short my time in Australia. It also made me available for a great new opportunity at Discovery International,” said Craig.

“In almost 30 years in television I’ve never encountered a group of people as committed to the highest ambitions of public service broadcasting as the genre head group at the ABC and its leadership. It will be particularly hard for me to leave the in-house production teams that I’ve been so proud to lead at the ABC. Their talent and commitment has been a constant inspiration.”

No replacement has yet been named.

ADVERTISEMENT

Get the latest media and marketing industry news (and views) direct to your inbox.

Sign up to the free Mumbrella newsletter now.

 

SUBSCRIBE

Sign up to our free daily update to get the latest in media and marketing.