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EXCLUSIVE: Netflix’s international non-scripted drive continues as the SVOD service hires former ITV commissioner Ben Kelly to beef up its London programming team.
Deadline understands that Kelly, who was previously an entertainment commissioner at the British linear broadcaster, is joining as manager of nonfiction series. He will be responsible for ordering global entertainment formats out of the UK. He is expected to join imminently.
He has previously handled shows including the return of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, The X Factor and comedy clip format Zone of Champions from Sacha Baron Cohen’s Spelthorne Community Television. Prior to that he was a producer and showrunner on shows including I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, Big Brother and Million Pound Menu.
It is the latest non-scripted hire for Netflix in London; last year, it hired former Channel 4 commissioner Lucy Leveugle, who commissioned series such as The Undateables and Child Genius, to bolster its unscripted formats pipeline.
Other London-based hires for the digital platform in the last twelve months include Jason Crosby, former COO of NBC Universal-owned producer Monkey, who joined as Director of Unscripted, Comedy and Docs Production, doc execs Diego Buñuel and Kate Townsend and former Sky drama chief Anne Mensah.
Elsewhere, in Germany, it recently hired Jennifer Mival as manager of nonfiction series focused on global shows and formats that originate out of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Mival, who joined in June, is based in Berlin and was formerly head of formats & creative partnerships at German production company Seapoint.
The pair are expected to work closely with U.S.-based execs including VP Brandon Riegg and directors Nathaniel Grouille and Sean Hancock.
Netflix has been ramping up its international non-scripted commissions including series such as Amazing Interiors from Barcroft Studios and gameshow Flinch from Sony-backed Stellify Media. It is also remaking Channel 4 reality series The Circle in a number of markets including the U.S. and is co-producing with British broadcasters on shows such as Optomen-produced Crazy Delicious.