London and Burbank, California – Following its acquisition of 100% of the outstanding shares of Shed Media Group, the Warner Bros. Television Group (WBTVG) and Warner Bros. UK announced on June 18 a new company name and senior management team for its UK-based television production business. Shed Media Group will be re-branded as Warner Bros. Television Productions UK, and key company executives Nick Emmerson and Claire Hungate have both been promoted to lead the new entity, with Emmerson tapped to serve as Managing Director and Hungate named Co-Managing Director.
Emmerson and Hungate will succeed current Shed Media Group CEO Nick Southgate, who has decided to leave the company upon the completion of the transaction that will see WBTVG take full ownership of one of the UK’s largest and most successful production companies, which is comprised of Wall to Wall, Twenty Twenty Television, Ricochet, Watershed Television, Renegade Pictures, Yalli and Headstrong Pictures.
As Managing Director of the newly named Warner Bros. Television Productions UK, Nick Emmerson will report to WBTVG President and Chief Content Officer Peter Roth on all creative matters, and he will work very closely with Mike Darnell, President, Warner Bros. Unscripted and Alternative Television. In his new role, Emmerson will be responsible for the overall operation of the new company and will have a primary focus on creative affairs across the group, with the heads of Wall to Wall, Twenty Twenty, Ricochet, Watershed, Renegade, Yalli and Headstrong reporting to him. Emmerson will also continue to build upon the company’s successful creative collaboration with WBTVG’s U.S. production units such as Warner Bros. Unscripted & Alternative Television (including Warner Horizon Unscripted Television, Telepictures and Shed Media US) as well as Warner Bros. Television and Warner Horizon Scripted Television.
As Co-Managing Director of Warner Bros. Television Productions UK, Claire Hungate will serve as the company’s top business, strategy and operations executive. In her role, Hungate will primarily be responsible for the business, strategic and financial matters of the company, working closely with the heads and executives of Wall to Wall, Twenty Twenty, Ricochet, Watershed, Renegade, Yalli and Headstrong on strategic and operational plans for the group. She will report to Nick Emmerson, and together they will work closely with Ronald Goes, Executive Vice President and Head of International Television Production, in managing the business.
In a joint statement, Warner Bros. Television Group President and Chief Content Officer Peter Roth, Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution President Jeffrey R. Schlesinger and Warner Bros. Television Group Business and Strategy President Craig Hunegs said: “With the completion of the full acquisition of Shed Media Group, we are excited to operate the company now under the Warner Bros. brand as a fully integrated part of the Warner Bros. Television Group. Nick and Claire, with their shared experience and complementary creative and strategic business skill sets, will form an undeniable team and prove to be great leaders for the future of Warner Bros. Television Productions UK. We look forward to continued success across the globe with the combination of our U.S., UK and international television production businesses, including the recently acquired Eyeworks Group and the BlazHoffski Group.”
Roth, Schlesinger and Hunegs continued: “We also want to thank Nick Southgate for both his Creative and strategic success during his 15 years at the company and especially during the last three years of our partnership.”
Nick Southgate said: “I’ve had a wonderful six years leading this amazing bunch of people and now feel it is time for me to look for a new entrepreneurial challenge. I want to thank everyone at Shed and Warner Bros., and wish them all the best for the future.”
Nick Emmerson said: “I’m delighted to get the opportunity to focus on giving the hugely talented and creative leaders of Wall to Wall, Ricochet, Twenty Twenty, Renegade, Watershed, Headstrong and Yalli all the tools they need to do what they do best — make great television programmes. I couldn’t be happier that I’ll be joined on this mission by Claire Hungate. I first worked with Claire back in our Princess Productions days, and I know from experience that she’s the first name you’d want on your team sheet.”
Claire Hungate said: “Having worked to grow Wall to Wall and ultimately the Shed Group alongside Nick Southgate, it’s now fantastic to be part of the leadership team taking the company to a new level, as Warner Bros. Television Productions UK. I look forward to working with Nick Emmerson and the great creative and strategic teams across the company to continue growing its presence and success in the UK TV production space.”
Immediately prior to being named to this new post, Emmerson had served as CEO of Ricochet Television since January 2013, leading of one of Britain’s most accomplished producers of high quality unscripted entertainment programming. For seven years prior to being named Ricochet’s CEO, Emmerson was based in the U.S. He had previously served as President of Shed Media US since its founding in 2009. Before that, he had been Executive Vice President of Ricochet Television USA since 2006. During his tenure with the company in the U.S., Emmerson executive produced many hit U.S. shows, including ABC’sSupernanny, Bravo’s The Real Housewives of New York City and Animal Planet’s It’s Me or the Dog.
Previous to working in America, Emmerson was an executive producer at Ricochet Television in the UK, where he produced numerous unscripted specials and series, including co-creating/executive producing the British version ofSupernanny, before developing it for ABC in the U.S. Prior to joining Ricochet, Emmerson was a series producer for Princess Productions, where he worked on Bedrock, a live children’s show for ITV2; Good Evening Rockall, a current affairs game show for the BBC; and Jailbreak, a reality-competition show for Channel 5. He was part of the London Weekend Television team that launched the ITV2 Network, and his credits also include producing a soccer-themed studio show for the 1998 World Cup.
Before being named Co-Managing Director of Warner Bros. Television Productions UK, Hungate had been Chief Operating Officer of Shed Media Group since November 2010. In this role, Hungate was responsible for overseeing the commercial, digital, legal and business affairs strategy across the Group, and she also managed the post-production, information technology and operational aspects of the business. She also worked closely with the divisions of the Warner Bros. Television Group, including Warner Bros. International Television Production, on the effective distribution and format sales of the Group’s intellectual property around the world. Hungate served as a key advisor to the CEO on the Group’s acquisitions, new business and growth strategy, and she was part of the executive team which helped to shape the eventual acquisition of Shed Media by WBTVG and the acquisition of Renegade Pictures by Shed Media in 2012.
For nearly six years prior, Hungate worked at Shed subsidiary Wall to Wall, where she served as Managing Director since 2008 after joining the company in 2004 as Legal and Commercial Director. In 2007, she was part of the team which orchestrated Wall to Wall’s sale to Shed Media Group. Before joining Wall to Wall, Hungate was Head of Legal & Business Affairs at Princess Productions from 2000–2004.
