Primal Media, part of STV Studios, has promoted Neil Kirby to Head of Development.
Neil Kirby is currently Development Executive at Primal, a role he’s held for the past two years. Prior to this he worked in development roles at companies including Fulwell 73, BBC, Whizz Kid, and ITV Studios. His credits span a wide range of genres including reality shows like Plastic Surgery Rewind (E!) and The One That Got Away (Amazon Prime), comedy ents like Sex Unzipped (Netflix), and events like Encanto: Live at the Hollywood Bowl (Disney Plus), among others.
In recent years, Primal has moved firmly into big scale reality entertainment, most recently with the award winning The Underdog: Josh Must Win (for Channel 4/E4). Shortly, Primal will announce a major new global reality competition; and the company is currently on the shortlist for the next BBC/NBC tender, as well as being in funded development for entertainment and reality formats for both US networks and streamers.
Kirby takes the place of Ben Riley, who is leaving Primal in February after six years for a new role.
Joint Managing Directors Mat Steiner and Adam Wood said: “Neil is an exceptional format developer, who not only creates original ideas from scratch but then brings them to life in spectacular fashion. His knowledge of TV is borderline disturbing. We’re delighted that he now steps up to spearhead our development as we continue our search for the next generation of stand-out entertainment shows.”
“It has been a joy working with Ben. We’ll miss him hugely and wish him the very best in his development adventures to come”.
Neil Kirby commented: “I originally joined Primal because of their knack for creating big, bold and bonkers ideas. But nothing could have prepared me for how bonkers their latest one would be: making me their new Head of Development. I’m excited to take the reins and help build a slate of ideas that carries forward Primal’s legacy of originality and top-tier entertainment.”
Jon Creamer
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