SPT hires Red's Michaela Fereday as SVP of scripted production

Sony Pictures Television (SPT) has appointed Michaela Fereday to its senior international production creative team as SVP Scripted Production. She will take up the post starting next week.

Fereday joins from Red Production Company, where she has served as Executive Producer and Head of Production on series such as It’s A Sin (Channel 4, 2021), Finding Alice (ITV, 2021), Traces (Alibi, 2019-21), The Stranger (Netflix, 2020), Years & Years (BBC, 2018), Last Tango In Halifax (BBC, 2014-16) and Happy Valley (BBC, 2014-16).

Fereday’s new role will have a dual focus: Firstly, she will be responsible for the executive production of premium scripted drama titles produced directly by Sony Pictures Television International Production (“SPTIP”), independent of the group’s network of owned-and-affiliated production companies. Secondly, she will oversee the physical production of selected SPT premium scripted series commissioned from the US and other regions for production in the UK and Europe.

This is a growth area for SPT, designed to complement the programming currently produced by SPT in the UK and internationally.

Fereday will be based in the UK and report into Brendan Fitzgerald, SVP International Co-Productions, and will work closely with the international scripted teams in Los Angeles, London, and Madrid.

Fitzgerald said: “Michaela’s credits read like a rollcall of the UK’s most popular dramas of the past decade. The energy and breadth of experience she is going to bring to this global role are incredibly exciting. From Alex Rider and Anne Boleyn to our Italian co-production on Leonardo, SPT has made a big push into international premium scripted series over the past 36 months, and we can’t wait to welcome Michaela to the SPT family and continue this journey.”

Fereday said: “I’m very excited to be joining Brendan, Wayne Garvie, and all the team at Sony Pictures Television. I have always enjoyed their premium scripted output which feels close to the productions I have worked on over the years, connecting with an audience through quality storytelling and entertaining drama. This is a fantastic, international role, and SPT producing their own premium scripted IP is a ripe opportunity – I can’t wait to get started.”