28/04/2009

Jana Bennett, Director, BBC Vision, has announced that Jane Wright will be Managing Director and Christine Langan Creative Director of BBC Films.

Bennett said, “Christine Langan has an impressive reputation in the industry having worked on fantastic pieces such as The Queen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andy Harries
interview: Stephen Frears
film profile], The Damned United and In The Loop [+see also:
trailer
film profile] to name just a few. Jane Wright’s incredible experience and skill at creating partnerships with other areas of the UK film industry that have allowed so many BBC Films to flourish continue to be a huge asset to the division.”

The new management structure follows the departure of former Controller of Fiction Jane Tranter, who left to take up a position with BBC Worldwide in Los Angeles in December 2008.

“With such a strong editorial leadership in place across Vision I have decided not to recruit a new controller of Fiction but instead to create a flatter, simpler editorial structure. I have great confidence in our editorial leaders as a team who have huge ambition to seek the benefits of collaboration across the whole slate for all our audiences,” Bennett added.

Langan will be responsible for the editorial strategy and commissioning of the BBC Films slate while Wright will look after the day-to-day running of the business operations and marketing.

Langan executive produced Cannes selections Fish Tank [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Andrea Arnold
film profile] and Bright Star [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], which are BBC Films co-productions. She said, “We’re delighted to have supported Jane Campion and Andrea Arnold – two brilliantly unique female directors – and we’re thrilled to see Bright Star and Fish Tank - such strikingly distinct films – in competition this year. This eclectic mix is precisely what we’re seeking to achieve for BBC Films in partnership with the industry as a whole.”