Tuesday 1st December, 2015 – UK based Woodcut Media is pleased to announce the appointment of Jeremy Mills to the newly created position of Chairman, effective immediately. The announcement was made today by Kate Beal, Chief Executive.
With Woodcut having launched just over a year ago, Jeremy Mills joins the company in an advisory capacity to navigate its strategic growth as it moves towards its next phase of development.
”I could not be more excited to welcome such an outstanding high-profile industry executive such as Jeremy as we transition to the next stage of our development. His track record speaks for itself, and over the years he has produced genuinely ground-breaking shows in the factual space. He was the driving force behind one of the best factual Indies in the UK so the business acumen and strategy he brings to Woodcut is unparalleled. 2016 is going to be a great year for Woodcut and with Jeremy as our new Chairman we’re off to an incredible start!” said Kate Beal.
“Kate Beal and Derren Lawford epitomise the best of the next generation of independent producers, and it is a pleasure to be working with them. I hope to share some of my experience to support their considerable talent and drive the company forward as it enters this dynamic phase,” said Jeremy Mills.
Mills has a stellar career in the TV industry that spans over 30 years.
He first made his mark on the TV landscape as one of the youngest directors for the BBC flagship show, The Nine O’clock News. During his 18 year tenure at the BBC, he relaunched the BBC Wales Nightly Magazine programme, and produced an eclectic range of shows covering documentaries, rock and pop performance, studio quizzes, as well as dramas. In the mid 1980’s he became Series Producer for the BBC documentary department where he produced and directed many high-profile one-offs and series at the time. He was later promoted to Executive Producer, and worked on shows such as Airport, one of the first of a string of popular hits for BBC1, in a genre that later became known as ‘docu-soaps’.
In 1997 he teamed up with two former BBC colleagues and co-founded Lion Television which rapidly became one of the most successful production companies in the UK, with a string of award-winning hits such as Castaway, Homes Under The Hammer and Playing It Straight, to mention just a few.
Over the years, the company also won numerous awards for its productions – BAFTA, RTS, Broadcast, British Comedy, Kidscreen Awards and Emmys. Lion Television was sold to All3Media Group and after 18 years at the helm Mills left.
About Woodcut Media
With offices in London and Hampshire, Woodcut Media, a member of the family of Bob & Co businesses, specialises in the production of documentaries – specialist factual, factual entertainment and lifestyle programming. Woodcut Media’s operations are spearheaded by leading doc producer Kate Beal, who over the years has established strong relations with key broadcasters such as A+E Networks, Discovery Networks, Netflix, ITV, and UK TV, as well as partnerships with leading distributors such as DRG, Content Media, Sky Vision, TCB Media Rights and Flame Distribution. In addition to being one of the leading production entities of crime programming in the UK (The Krays: The Prison Years, Broadmoor – A History of the Criminally Insane), Woodcut Media’s rapidly growing catalogue also includes one-off docs such as Mandela, My Dad and Me featuring Idris Elba, exclusive specials (The Ivy, Kate Middleton: Heir We Go Again!), and factual entertainment show (Around the World in 80 Tricks shot in 4k), and more.
