Screentime’s Deb Spinocchia to join BBC Studios ANZ
Deb Spinocchia is to join BBC Studios Australia and New Zealand in January as head of development and content, production.
Spinocchia will lead the development team in coming up with new and ambitious ideas, and will oversee the delivery of shows to the commissioning platform.
The move comes during a successful year for BBC Studios’ Australian production arm which has seen the studio win five local commissions, including its first locally created original format Space 22 for the ABC.
Spinocchia joins BBC Studios from Screentime Australia where she was executive Producer of SAS Australia and The School That Tried to End Racism which received a 2021 AACTA nomination for best documentary or factual series.
Deb Spinocchia
Prior to Screentime Australia, Spinocchia was an executive producer at Seven Studios where she oversaw productions including House Rules, Zumbo’s Just Desserts, First Dates and Back with the Ex. She has also worked as a producer for many leading companies including Southern Star Entertainment, Endemol Shine, Fremantle Media, SBS and ABC on shows such as World’s Strictest Parents, So You Think You Can Dance, Big Brother, Undercover Boss and Beauty and the Geek.
Kylie Washington, GM and creative director, production BBC Studios ANZ, said: “I’m delighted to have someone of Deb’s calibre joining the team. Deb has a wealth of experience in content development and production across reality, factual, scripted and live entertainment and is the perfect person to lead the development team as we build on the momentum of this year and look to extend our slate further into different genres.”
Spinocchia said: “I am delighted to join Kylie and the team at such an exciting and pivotal moment for BBC Studios’ production arm. The expansion of their creative development slate across Australia and New Zealand has been enormously impressive and I’m thrilled to be a part of the next phase.”
BBC Studios bolstered its production team earlier this year with the appointment of Will Hamilton to the newly created role of director of commercial and business operations and has recently completed filming on their first locally-created original documentary series Space 22. The series explores the impact of art and creativity on mental health and will screen on the ABC next year. Other titles produced this year are The Great Australian Bake-Off for Foxtel, a second season of Dancing With the Stars: All Stars for Seven, AACTA nominated Mastermind and Celebrity Mastermind for SBS and The Weakest Link for Nine.
BBC Studios is a commercial subsidiary of the BBC Group and BBC Studios APAC covers Australia, New Zealand, Greater China and the Asia region. Operating from six offices, with its main bases in Sydney, Beijing and Singapore, BBC Studios APAC comprises of Content Sales and Co-productions, Branded Services, Production, Format Sales, Consumer Products and Live Events.
The BBC Studios business in Australia and New Zealand wholly owns seven channels: BBC First, BBC UKTV, BBC Earth and CBeebies on Foxtel and Fetch TV in Australia; BBC Brit and BBC Kids on Fetch TV; and BBC UKTV, BBC Earth and CBeebies on Sky TV in New Zealand. It distributes British content from the BBC and other British producers to free-to-air, subscription channels and SVOD platforms and works with partners to bring BBC Studios DVDs, consumer products and live events to the local market.
The production arm in Sydney produces BBC formats for the local market, including Dancing with the Stars, Weakest Link and Mastermind.
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topics
ABC
BBC Studios
BBC Studios Australia and New Zealand
Deb Spinocchia
Kylie Washington
Screentime Australia
Will Hamilton
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