Kim Shillinglaw

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Kim Danila Shillinglaw[1] (born 1969) is a British media executive. A former Controller of BBC Two and BBC Four, Head of Science and Natural History Commissioning at the BBC, and Commissioner for Children's Entertainment at CBBC, she later became Director of Factual Programming at Endemol Shine UK,[2]

Early life and career[]

Born in London, Shillinglaw spent her early years in Cameroon and Spain, countries in which her parents worked during the 1970s.[3]

After her family's return to Britain, she attended Holland Park Comprehensive and then read history at Wadham College, Oxford.[4] After her graduation, she worked in strategy and the music industry then joined Observer Films (for a time part of the Guardian Media Group) as a researcher, eventually becoming a series producer.[5] Following this, she worked for ITV and Channel 4.

BBC posts[]

From 2006, Shillinglaw worked as an executive producer for BBC Factual and the Commissioner of Independent Productions for CBBC.[5] Among shows that she developed and commissioned at CBBC was the Horrible Histories series.[6] Shillinglaw was responsible for changing the original pitch, a long-form drama idea about a ghost train, into a comedy proposal based on sketches with contemporary references to popular culture. She also requested the recruitment of adult comedy writers.[7] Working under Karen O'Connor from late 2007, she then became one of ten "creative leads" in London Factual.[8]

From May 2009, she was the BBC's Commissioning Editor and Head of Commissioning for Science and Natural History[9] responsible around 2012 for 200 hours of programming per year.[10] In 2010, she organised the BBC's Year of Science and The Times first Eureka issue included Shillinglaw in its list of the top 100 influential people in British science, observing her role in promoting more female presenters and experts on screen, as well as introducing Brian Cox to television. She is reported as having tweeted: "Why are only women on Mock the Week compilations laughing cutaways? They never get to speak. Surely not because not funny?"[11][12] In a 2011 article for The Guardian, she argued television had not done enough to include women onscreen.[13] Shillinglaw brought more diversity to screen, including Helen Czerski, Gabrielle Weston, Maggie Aderin-Pocock, Hannah Fry, and Saleyha Asan, among others. In 2012, Broadcast magazine's Hot 100 described her as "about as far from the stereotype of a BBC Commissioner as you can get: enthusiastic, uncensored and jargon free".[14] She expanded the range of science subjects on TV, and commissioned more popular programmes including Stargazing Live, which for its second series won its slot against drama on BBC1,[15] Wonders of the Universe, Trust Me I'm a Doctor, Supermarket Secrets[16] and Bang Goes the Theory.[17] The proportion of science-themed broadcasting on BBC One is reported to have risen during Shillinglaw's period in charge of the department.[18]

She assumed her posts as controller of both BBC Two and BBC Four in April 2014, in succession to Janice Hadlow[19] at a time when critics were reported as saying "certain things are rather tired about it now",[20] calling for a "boot up the rear" and pointing to ageing audiences. During her period as the 13th (and final) controller of BBC Two,[21] On 9 January 2015, Shillinglaw told Broadcast magazine that "BBC2 is a fundamentally grown-up channel but should be young at heart".[22] According to the television producer contacts of journalist George Monbiot, she was less keen to commission programmes on environmental issues.[23] Shillinglaw commissioned programmes such as the comedy Mum,[24] Exodus,[25] Muslims Like Us,[26][27] The Real Marigold Hotel,[28] which eventually moved to BBC One due to its high ratings, introduced the first female presenter of a TV Comedy Panel Show, QI,[29] the first non-white presenter of the RI Christmas Lectures[30] and brought Women's Football into prime-time.[31]

In January 2016, it was announced the posts of BBC One, BBC Two and BBC Four controllers were being abolished in a re-structure by the BBC's director general Tony Hall. At the same time, it became known Shillinglaw was leaving the BBC; however, according to The Guardian it was intended that she would work through her six-month notice period.[32]

Later career[]

In August 2016, she was appointed as the first Director of factual programming at Endemol Shine UK.[2] Shillinglaw executed substantial restructuring including hiring new Managing Directors[33][34] for several companies, merging or rebranding other businesses and opening new offices in Belfast and Leeds.[35] Over three years, she tripled turnover and substantially increased profitability, before exiting on the successful sale of EndemolShine to Banijay.[36]

Shillinglaw is a Non-Executive Director at Natural England,[37] at Ofcom,[38] the Natural Environment Research Council,[39] and Raspberry Pi.[40]

Personal life[]

She is married to the television producer Steve Condie, who has worked on Newsnight. The couple live in west London and have two children.[4]

References[]

  1. ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007
  2. ^ a b Sweney, Mark (14 July 2016). "Former BBC2 boss Kim Shillinglaw joins Endemol Shine UK". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 July 2016.
  3. ^ Rachel Cooke "Kim Shillinglaw: 'The BBC is there to be distinct. Not highbrow or lowbrow'", The Observer, 2 August 2014
  4. ^ a b John Plunkett "Kim Shillinglaw: the straight-talking new controller of BBC2", The Guardian, 20 April 2014
  5. ^ a b Katherine Rushton "Kim Shillinglaw, BBC science and natural history", Broadcast, 21 January 2014
  6. ^ "BBC - Press Office - Horrible HIstories Press Pack: introduction". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  7. ^ "Horrible Histories". Laurence Rickard | Official Website. 3 January 2022. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  8. ^ Chris Tryhorn "BBC restructures London factual arm", The Guardian, 27 November 2007
  9. ^ Leigh Holmwood "BBC appoints first Muslim head of religious programming", The Guardian, 11 May 2009
  10. ^ Catherine Neilan "Kim Shillinglaw, BBC, science and natural history", Broadcast, 26 April 2012
  11. ^ "Eureka 100: the people that matter". The Times. 7 October 2010. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  12. ^ Conlan, Tara (19 January 2016). "BBC2 controller Kim Shillinglaw's exit deprives corporation of a rising star". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  13. ^ Shillinglaw, Kim (3 May 2011). "It's true – there are too few women presenting science on TV | Kim Shillinglaw". The Guardian. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Broadcast Hot 100: 2012". Broadcast. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Stargazing Live shines on 3.8m viewers". The Guardian. 17 January 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  16. ^ "BBC One - Supermarket Secrets". BBC. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Kim Shillinglaw Controller, BBC2 and BBC4: BBC", Variety website
  18. ^ Ian Burrell "Beeb announces Kim Shillinglaw as new controller of BBC 2", The Independent, 11 April 2014
  19. ^ John Plunkett "Kim Shillinglaw named as new controller of BBC2 and BBC4", The Guardian, 11 April 2014
  20. ^ "BBC2 gets boost from Winter Olympics but faces testing times ahead". The Guardian. 21 February 2014. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  21. ^ Lawson, Mark (17 April 2014). "Fifty years on: how BBC2 lost its way". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  22. ^ "Broadcast: Television and radio news, comment, jobs, data and analysis". Broadcast. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  23. ^ Monbiot, George (22 January 2016). "George Monbiot meets David Attenborough: 'You feel apprehensive for the future, of course you do'". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  24. ^ Mum (TV Series 2016–2019) - IMDb, retrieved 6 January 2022
  25. ^ Exodus: Our Journey to Europe (TV Series 2016– ) - IMDb, retrieved 6 January 2022
  26. ^ "BBC Two - Muslims Like Us". BBC. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  27. ^ Muslims Like Us - IMDb, retrieved 6 January 2022
  28. ^ "The Grierson Trust - Winners announced". griersontrust.org. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  29. ^ Rutherford, Fiona. "Sandi Toksvig Becomes First Female Host Of TV Comedy Panel Show After Stephen Fry Quits "QI"". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  30. ^ "How to survive in space | The Royal Institution: Science Lives Here". www.rigb.org. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  31. ^ "How female football is reaching a cultural tipping point". The Independent. 6 June 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2022.
  32. ^ Sweney, Mark; Conlan, Tara (19 January 2016). "BBC scraps BBC1 and BBC2 controller roles after more than 50 years". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  33. ^ televisual.com (26 January 2017). "BBC formats and features boss Donna Clark leaves for DSP". Televisual. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  34. ^ televisual.com (16 November 2016). "Dragonfly hires Richard Bond as creative director". Televisual. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  35. ^ "UKTV, Endemol head north for reinvention". TBI Vision. 7 November 2018. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  36. ^ Kanter, Jake (31 January 2020). "Endemol Shine's Factual Chief Kim Shillinglaw Exits Amid Rash Of Departures From UK Production Group". Deadline. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  37. ^ "Kim Shillinglaw". GOV.UK. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  38. ^ "Ofcom appoints six new Content Board members". Ofcom. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  39. ^ "NERC appoints new non-executive directors". www.ukri.org. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
  40. ^ "Governance". Raspberry Pi. Retrieved 3 January 2022.
Media offices
Preceded by Controller of BBC Two
2014–2016 		Succeeded by
Abolished
Preceded by
Richard Klein
 Controller of BBC Four
2014–2016 		Succeeded by
Abolished
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