Married At First Sight UK indie finds new talent head

Married At First Sight UK producer CPL Productions has appointed Simon Shearer-Wright as its head of talent and HR.

He replaces Dawn Beresford, who left in September to join the BBC as director of talent, commissioning.

Shearer-Wright has been head of talent at Viacom International Studios UK for more than six years and prior that held the same role at UKTV, where he launched the Talent function and hired more than 90 new starters to the business.

He has also headed up talent for Raw TV and at VFX company The Mill.

Earlier in his career, he spent ten years at the BBC, latterly as a talent manager for BBC Academy, where he developed and ran initiatives such as the BBC Production Trainee Scheme, the BBC Production Talent Pool and the Production Management Trainee Scheme.

At CPL, Shearer-Wright will lead the indie’s strategy for sourcing, growing and retaining staff and freelancers.

Chief executive Danielle Lux said: “The TV industry thrives on talent, both in front of and behind the camera. At CPL we believe nurturing and developing all our staff and creating a culture where they’re empowered to do their best work is absolutely paramount.”