ITV Studios indie poaches BBC producer

ITV Studios-owned factual prodco Shiver has poached Richard Hastings from BBC Entertainment.

Hastings (pictured) will become creative director, factual entertainment, formats and daytime at the UK-based Come Dine With Me producer.

He joins ITV’s production arm from the entertainment wing of UK pubcaster the BBC, where he was head of factual entertainment development.

His new post is a new role beginning in August that sees him reporting into Shiver managing director Alexander Gardiner. He will work alongside creative director, popular factual Mark Robinson and the newly-added Simon Dickson, who is creating a specialist label focusing on factual series and formatted documentaries.

“We already produce Europe’s most screened format, Come Dine With Me, and with Richard’s extensive experience, talent and leadership we intend to develop many more internationally-appealing, long-running format successes,” said Gardiner.

During his time at the BBC, Hastings was involved in winning BBC commissions from the BBC’s UK channels and investment from commercial arm BBC Worldwide. He developed shows such as The 999 Awards, Home Away From Home and Your Home in Their Hands for BBC, and various others for BBC Two and BBC Three.

Before that he was head of development at Prospect Pictures, where he worked on shows such as BBC One’s Saturday Kitchen and Channel 4’s Take Away My Takeaway. He also worked at RDF Media, Princess Productions and, further back, LWT.

The news comes after ITVS poached four execs from All3Media-owned Objective Productions to create a new umbrella production group, Cats on a Roof Media.