Disney Hires Former BBC Studios Exec to Oversee TV Originals for Europe, Africa

Former BBC Studios executive Liam Keelan will start as vp original productions, television for the region on March 2.

The Walt Disney Co. Europe/Middle East/Africa on Friday said that Liam Keelan will join its television and direct-to-consumer unit as vp original productions, television for Europe & Africa as of March 2.

Based in London, he will report to Diego Londono, executive vp media networks and content, and lead a team of development and production executives in the U.K. and across the region "to deliver top-quality television originals."

Keelan will be responsible for scripted, unscripted, factual entertainment and animated originals across various genres with a focus on general entertainment and family. The original content will be for the branded platforms owned by Disney, including Fox, Disney Channel and Disney+.

Keelan has more than 20 years of television experience. During his tenure at the BBC and BBC Worldwide, he spent six years as director of scripted content for BBC Worldwide after serving as global editorial director. Before that, Keelan was controller for BBC Daytime and Early Peak.

Before joining the BBC, Keelan held positions as controller for daytime at ITV, head of scheduling and channel editor at UKTV. Since leaving the BBC last year, he has acted as a media consultant for Amazon Studios and a number of independent production companies.