Duck Soup co-founder Bekki Wray Rogers has joined Netflix to work on scripted projects where the streamer is working directly with talent or is the de facto producer.
Her appointment as director of scripted (self-managed) UK comes as the streamer promotes Manda Levin to director of scripted series, taking over from Mona Qureshi, who recently left to join Margot Robbie’s indie LuckyChap.
Examples of the kind of commission Wray Rogers will oversee include musician Rapman’s drama series Supacell [pictured].
Duck Soup, which produced BBC1’s Lost Boys and Fairies, closed its doors late last year, with Wray Rogers’ co-founder Jessica Brown Meek subsequently joining fellow Leeds indie Candour.
Netflix has built on recent British hits such as Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham’s Adolescence (Warp Films) and Joe Barton’s Black Doves (Sister) with commissions including Lisa McGee’s How to Get to Heaven From Belfast (Hat Trick) and Dolly Alderton’s upcoming Pride and Prejudice (Lookout Point).
Speaking to Broadcast, UK vice president of content Anne Mensah said the UK scripted commissioning team will continue to focus on delivering authored British stories.
“We have such scope and scale at Netflix it’s hard to define a single type of drama we make,” she said. “In everything we do we simply look for range and variety from the very best British talent.”
Mensah stressed that every member of the team can commission projects.
“We lean into the diversity of taste represented by a big bold team with lots of different experiences. It’s the only way to please all our members. Great shows can’t come from a single source.”
Netflix UK’s commissioning team:
- Manda Levin - director of scripted series
- Bekki Wray Rogers - director of scripted series (self-managed)
- Adam Hawkins - director of documentary series
- Kate Townsend - director of documentary film
- Liz Lewin - director of comedy series, UK
- Daisy Lilley - director of unscripted
- Syeda Irtizaali - director of unscripted
- Ollie Madden - director of film
- Sam Blanco - manager for content acquisition UK & Israel
