Washington, DC – National Geographic Channels International’s (NGCI) global content hub in London announced the appointment of Mark Francis to Vice President, Commissioning and Regional Programming and the promotion of Maggie Rhodes to Vice President, Global Acquisitions and Co-Productions. NGCI’s global marketing group has also announced the promotion of Emanuele Madeddu to Senior Vice President, Marketing and Creative. 

In his role as Vice President, Commissioning and Regional Programming, Francis will be commissioning content from London independents and production companies around the world.  He will also collaborate with NGCI’s local teams on their regional programming strategy.  He joins the team from Fox International Channels Asia-Pacific and Middle East where he most recently served as Vice President, Production and Development for factual and unscripted entertainment. As the head of production, he helped drive original productions across key markets by commissioning and executive producing for National Geographic Channel and Star World in Asia. Francis will now be based in London and report to Hamish Mykura, Executive Vice President and Head of International Content, NGCI. His appointment represents the first time a regional programming executive has transitioned to this global role. 

“Mark has been highly adept at building successful series in Asia, and will help our global team develop strong shows across the world. He will also ensure that NGCI’s output becomes ever more focused on the needs of our regional businesses and audiences,” Hamish Mykura, Executive Vice President and Head of International Content for NGCI. 

NGCI’s global commissioning team has also elevated Maggie Rhodes to Vice President, Global Acquisitions and Co-Productions, based in London. With NGCI since 2005, Rhodes runs the Global Acquisitions team, with buyers based both in Washington, DC and London. Rhodes and the team are responsible for sourcing and licensing acquisitions, pre-sales, and co-productions for National Geographic Channel internationally and in the US, and NGCI’s expanding bouquet of channels including Nat Geo Wild, Nat Geo People and Nat Geo Mundo. She will be working closely with Jules Oldroyd, SVP of Programming and Strategic Development, on the editorial strategy and further roll-out of Nat Geo People internationally. Rhodes will continue reporting to Carlyn Staudt, SVP of Global Programming, based in Washington, DC.