Carnival exec producer and former Duck Soup exec join My Life with the Walter Boys outfit
Sony Pictures Television International Productions (SPTIP) has bolstered its in-house UK scripted team, Broadcast can reveal, with the appointments of Joanna Strevens and Kate O’Hara in the newly-created roles of senior vice president and head of development, respectively.
Strevens will work alongside Michaela Fereday, senior vice president of scripted production, to lead the Manchester-based division.
The exec joins from Carnival Films, where she spent a decade working initially as head of development before being promoted to executive producer.
Her credits include Belgravia: the Next Chapter (MGM+) and All Her Fault (Peacock). Earlier in her career she held senior development roles at Kudos and Hat Trick Productions.
Meanwhile, O’Hara joins as head of development, carrying with her extensive experience across film and TV.
She was most recently head of development at Riot Time Pictures and prior to that spent six years with Duck Soup Films, where she developed the lauded Lost Boys & Fairies (BBC2).
She has also worked with partners including BBC Writers, Channel 4, Screen Ireland, BFI Network and Bafta Albert, and was iFeatures executive at Creative England, helping to shape films such as Lady Macbeth, God’s Own Country and Blue Jean.
The pair have already assumed their roles at SPTIP and, along with Fereday, will work closely with Sony Picture Television’s senior management, including Matthew Justice, executive vice president and head of UK & Europe, and Wayne Garvie, president of international production.
The in-house scripted unit was established in 2021 with Fereday’s hire. It develops and exec produces scripted dramas credited directly to SPTIP, rather than through the group’s network of owned-and-affiliated production companies. It is behind Netflix’s YA hit My Life with the Walter Boys, with the third series launching last month and the fourth in production.
Fereday said: “The growth of our senior creative team marks an important next step for Sony Pictures Television International Productions’ scripted division. With Joanna and Kate bringing such depth of experience across development, production and talent relationships, we are strongly placed to build a distinctive slate of original and adapted scripted projects for international broadcast.
“We will continue to champion ambitious storytelling, work with outstanding writers and producers, and develop premium drama with clear global appeal.”
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