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ITV Studios-Backed Poison Pen Studios Expands London Team

ITV Studios-backed Poison Pen Studios, founded by former Bad Robot exec Ben Stephenson, has expanded its London team with a raft of new hires.

Luke Woellhaf joins as director of development, Fern McCauley joins as head of IP acquisitions and Oluchi Ezeh has been appointed development director.

In September, Stephenson tapped Preethi Mavahalli as the new creative director for the L.A. and London label.

Woellhaf, who joins from Left Bank, will work alongside Mavahalli and Stephenson, building out Poison Pen’s slate of international premium drama. He has previously developed projects including “Without Sin,” which he also assistant produced.

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McCauley, who joins from Hachette, where she was head of media development, will lead strategy for sourcing prime IP from the worlds of publishing, podcasts and gaming.

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Ezeh joins from Heyday TV, where she was development assistant. She previously worked at talent agency Troika and at B-Side Management.

“It’s so great to have Luke, Fern and Oluchi join us at Poison Pen,” said Mavahalli. “Ben and I feel very lucky to have built such a talented, young and inspiring team. We can’t wait to get started and look forward to this adventure together.”

McCauley said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be joining Ben and Preethi at Poison Pen Studios. I feel especially lucky to be joining at this early stage and am super excited to add my IP experience to such an incredibly talented and creative team. It’s a dream job and I can’t wait to see what we will create together.”

Ezeh added: “It’s such a dream to be joining Poison Pen; Ben and Preethi have put together such a wonderful, talented team and I’m so excited by their vision for the company. I can’t wait to help them bring some incredible ideas to the screen.”

Said Woellhaf: “I’m so excited and honoured to be joining Poison Pen under Ben and Preethi. Their experience on both sides of the Atlantic speaks for itself, and I can’t wait to make fantastic, thrilling and envelope-pushing shows under their exemplary leadership.”

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Update: 2024-07-14

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