Asian production powerhouse Beach House Pictures (BHP), a Blue Ant Studios company, has added four more members to its executive ranks. Suzy Hounslow (Executive-in-charge of Production), Rob Sixsmith (Head of Factual), Geraldine Orrock (Head of Unscripted) and Susan Zhao (Business Director, China) will join the production company’s senior management team as they oversee BHP’s expansion into global markets, while meeting the demands of streamers and cable networks for premium content.
In a newly created role, Suzy Hounslow will supervise and provide quality control of BHP’s considerable international output. Hounslow joins BHP after 10+ years at Australia’s Seven Network Studios where she oversaw 500 hours of factual, reality and scripted shows annually, including the hugely successful My Kitchen Rules. Hounslow will report to founders Jocelyn Little, Managing Director and Donovan Chan, Creative Director.
Head of Factual, Rob Sixsmith is a BAFTA award-winning showrunner from the UK who has excelled at the development and production of a diverse range of factual genres, which includes topics ranging from survival to science. Sixsmith has directed global talents, Bear Grylls and Levison Wood and helmed Discovery US’s factual entertainment phenomenon, Gold Rush and the BHP & Discovery International flagship series Ed Stafford: First Man Out.
Also joining BHP is Geraldine Orrock, who has a reputation for being one of Australia’s most highly regarded entertainment showrunners. She is the driving force behind some of the most popular award-winning programmes in the country, developing and managing shows including The Voice, First Dates and My Kitchen Rules. Orrock started up the Australian office of Warner Bros International Television and was integral in developing a slew of successful shows. As Head of Unscripted, Orrock will spearhead BHP’s development of original formats and exec key shows.
In China, BHP has enlisted Business Director, Susan Zhao and her extensive experience as an award-winning producer and branded content expert across the industries of film production, advertising and marketing. An ex-Ogilvy and Leo Burnett senior executive, Zhao served as CEO of the production company that produced Mystery. The series was directed by critically acclaimed Chinese director Lou Ye which won a Golden Horse and earned a nod for the Cannes Palme d’Or Award.
