Masterclass: The secrets of development with Kat Lennox and Newton Velji, BBC Studios

Development is a tricky and unknown beast, even for those who have worked in TV for years - but it is at the very heart of TV and what gets you those gold dust commissions. In this session, creative director of factual entertainment, Kat Lennox and head of development for factual entertainment and events, Newton Velji are going to look at how the development landscape is continually changing and what you need to do to stay ahead of the game.

From how to create sizzle tapes to what commissioners want in treatments, they will reveal some of the 'dark arts' used to try and win those highly sought after format commission

This session is part of our week-long focus on development, going behind the scenes and getting the inside track on the world unscripted TV development from the people who know it best.

Speakers

Kat Lennox was made creative director of factual entertainment at the beginning of 2020 and prior to that worked as a senior executive producer at BBC Studios for almost two years producing Celebrity Painting Challenge for BBC One, Junior Doctors for BBC3, Jay Blades’ Home Fix and It’s Grime up North for C4 as well as driving a number of paid developments for new factual entertainment formats.

Prior to that she was at Boundless for three years, exec producing shows such as Love in the Countryside for BBC2, The Week the Landlords Moved In for BBC One and Secrets in my Family for W as well as working across various development projects.

Kat has produced some of the most successful reality and Fact Ent formats at a senior level such as: Love Island, I’m a Celebrity get me Out of Here, Big Brother and Hotel of Mum and Dad.

Newton Velji is the head of development for factual entertainment and events. She joined at the start of 2020, coming from BBC Three where she was an executive producer and also worked on the development of a number of linear and digital formats, including Hot Property and Heartbreak Holiday.

Prior to that she worked in development roles at Fulwell 73, ITV, Red Planet Pictures, Endemol, NBC and Monkey Kingdom - where she was involved in numerous commissions including Almost Impossible Gameshows, Pants of Fire,Wor ld’s Toughest Jobs and Wedlocked, which has been sold in a number of international territories. She has also worked at senior level on productions including Hot Property, The Apprentice, Young Apprentice and with talent such as Yung Filly, Graham Norton, Alan Carr and Charlie Brooker.

She has a passion for youth-skewing digital formats, finding new talent and watches all things reality-based.

This event is supported by the ScreenSkills Television Skills Fund which invests in training for the freelance television workforce thanks to contributions from the BBC, Channel 4 and Channel 5.

It is part of a ScreenSkills programme managed by the Indie Training Fund to support freelancers to upskill and stay connected, helping keep the industry resilient in these difficult times.

This session will take place online via Zoom. Click ‘get ticket’ to reserve your place: you must login or register before you are able to get a ticket for this event. A booking confirmation with a joining link to the session will be sent to you via email.

If you are no longer able to use your ticket, we ask you to please contact support@screenskills.com so that we can release your place. Our sessions are often oversubscribed, so we’d like to give other freelancers the opportunity to fill available spots. Thank you for your consideration.