Alaska, the indie behind ITV’s James Nesbitt in New Zealand, has hired former Tiger Aspect development chief Jonny Goodman as its first head of development.

The appointment comes as the production company, which was founded in 2011, beefs up its development ambitions on the back of a number of new commissions.

The company was founded by former At It Productions managing director Chris Fouracre, Tiger Aspect co-founder Paul Sommers and Ian Lamarra, who was previously head of development for global formats at IWC Media but also worked at Tiger Aspect, SMG Productions and Mentorn.

Goodman will join his former Tiger Aspect colleagues as they look to build on series such as Crime and Investigation’s Gangs of Britain with Gary and Martin Kemp and History’s No County for Old Men as well as its recent moves into digital with The Music Room for Microsoft’s Xbox.

His appointment will also start the company’s push into the global TV market as it looks to secure international commissions.

“We have had nine commissions in the past two years which is great, but now we want to build on that by expanding our business in the UK, starting a presence internationally and continuing our relationships with new digital platforms. Bringing Jonny in to help is a huge relief. I’ve worked with him at four companies before so he was my first choice. I think investing in development is the most important step for a new company,” said Lamarra

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