BBC Studios hires Optomen exec for development

BBC Studios Productions has hired an Optomen creative exec to lead a newly minted central development and design team, Broadcast International has learned.

Mel Bezalel will oversee the nascent unit that has been created as part of the recently formed development division headed up by Karl Warner, who was appointed exec vice president of BBCS Entertainment and Digital Development last year.

Led by Bezalel, the new team will creatively and strategically support idea generation and pitching across the division, delivering assets and pitching materials for formats and new IP to commissioners around the globe.

A new reality label and a new factual entertainment label are also to be created, which will orbit the central development and design team alongside existing mixed entertainment label Rebel Rebel Pictures.

Details of the new labels are yet to be confirmed but the three labels will collectively form Warner’s new Entertainment development division, focused on new IP and formats for the BBC and other UK and global platforms, while also reworking international ideas for the British market.

Shows that get greenlit in the UK will be produced by BBC Studios Entertainment Productions, led by managing director Suzy Lamb.

Warner’s unit sits within the recently formed Unscripted Productions division, details of which were revealed by Broadcast International earlier this week.

Bezalel joins BBCS from Optomen, where she is creative director of development. Prior to that, she was a commissioning editor at Channel 4 for three years where she developed and commissioned new reality formats and popular factual shows.

Credits include The Honesty Box, The Underdog: Josh Must Win, Married at First Sight specials and podcast, and Vicky Pattison: My Deep Fake Sex Tape.

Bezalel, a former Broadcast Hot Shot, was previously director of development at Banijay-owned RDF and has held senior roles at Twenty Twenty and Me & You Productions. Her development and production credits include Channel 4’s Lodgers For Codgers, ITV’s 100 Year Old Driving School and BBC1’s Shop Well For Less.

Bezalel said: “It’s a real privilege to be joining this brilliant new era at BBC Studios; the creative momentum and vision led by Suzy and Karl is so exciting. In this role, I’ll be collaborating across the global business, creating partnerships and pushing creative boundaries with my new team and I can’t wait to get stuck in.”

Warner added: ”Mel is one of the best creatives and collaborators I’ve met. She has a sharp strategic mind and her experience on both sides of the table, in development and commissioning, means she’s the perfect person to help bring our new, ambitious strategy to life.”

Bezalel will report to Warner and takes up her role in June.