Sky Studios has hired CBS Studios international co-pros chief Meghan Lyvers as it seeks to significantly scale up its original UK drama output.
Lyvers will become Director of Original Drama, UK & Ireland — a new role that will see her have oversight of all premium original dramas commissioned and produced at the Gangs of London and Chernobyl company, which is Sky’s original programming arm in Europe. She is set to join in late summer in the UK.
Lyvers team will include Gabriel Silver, who was upped to Director of Drama Commissioning last year and will continue to lead on commissioned Sky Original drama projects such as the upcoming The Lazarus Project and The Baby, and Preethi Mavahalli, who joined earlier this year from Mammoth Screen as Creative Director.
Silver and Mavahalli have been overseeing Sky Studios’ drama output in the wake of former Director of Drama Cameron Roach’s exit, which was announced in September 2020. The pair previously reported into Sky Studios Chief Content Officer Jane Millichip, who has now left the business.
Lyvers, who will relocate from CBS Studios’ base in Amsterdam to London will report to Sky Studios CEO Cécile Frot-Coutaz, and work closely with the wider original content teams at Sky UK, Sky Deutschland and Sky Italia.
Currently Senior Vice President and Head of International Co-Productions and Development at CBS Studios, Lyvers has previously developed, packaged and overseen shows such as Showtime’s Bryan Cranston drama Your Honour and Netflix’s Unbelievable and has significant relationships with filmmakers, creators, playwrights, and other partners.
In her current role, Lyvers established the strategic international business vision for Paramount Global-owned CBS Studios, finding and developing projects outside of the U.S. Current projects include Oderbruch for ARD in Germany as well as Munich Games for Sky Studios.
Before joining CBS Studios, she was a producer at Management 360, establishing its TV division, and began her career at Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal’s Tribeca Productions, on projects such as About a Boy and the Meet The Parents franchise.
Sky Studios current slate includes Pulse Films co-pro Gangs of London, Benito Mussolini series M: Son of the Century and the recently announced The Tattooist of Auschwitz.
“Sky is a company I have long admired, both as a viewer of their original content but also as a long-term creative partner,” said Lyvers. “Their renewed ambition to create even more prestige, world-class and unmissable programming through Sky Studios, working in partnership with the best storytellers in the UK, Europe and beyond, is an opportunity I could not pass up.”
Frot-Coutaz said: “Meghan is a passionate creative executive with a strong track record in developing premium and distinctive drama alongside a depth of experience and relationships across the US and Europe.”
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