Beyond Rights boosts senior management team

L-R: Sarah Bickley & Joanna Rowley

Australia- and UK-based distributor Beyond Rights has promoted Sarah Bickley to head of sales, while also handing a permanent role to Joanna Rowley, who becomes VP of sales for the UK, Nordics and Italy.

Bickley joined Pooch Perfect firm Beyond Rights in November as SVP of sales for the Nordics, overseeing the digital exploitation of the company’s catalogue, with an initial focus on expanding its business with AVOD platforms.

Taking up the role on 1 April, her promotion will now see her working more closely with CEO David Smyth to drive overall programme sales for the business and explore new ways to maximise revenue.

Bickley was previously responsible for distribution of shows from Tin Roof firms Blink Films and Outline Productions, including helping to secure deficit funding for unscripted content.

Prior to that, she spent more than 15 years at Hat Trick International, selling scripted, factual and formats to a variety of territories including Scandinavia, France, the US and Canada, as well as to global SVOD platforms.

Permanent role

Rowley, meanwhile, will begin this new permanent position on 1 May. She has served as a part-time consultant for the company for the past three months and has been freelancing for two years.

Her most recent long-term role was as executive director at Fox Networks Group Content Distribution, prior to its acquisition by Disney. Before that, she spent many years as a regional sales director for National Geographic Television International, as well as for its previous incarnation, Explore International.

David Smyth, CEO of Beyond Rights commented: “In a short period of time, Sarah has proved herself not only an excellent salesperson and strategist but also an incredibly popular member of the team. This promotion is well deserved and comes at an exciting time for our business. I look forward to working with her even more closely to drive a range of new opportunities over the coming months.”

He continued: “I knew Joanna when we both worked for Fox and was always impressed by her reputation in the industry, deep understanding of the unscripted marketplace and her wonderful rapport with clients in key territories. As a consultant, she has had an excellent opportunity to get under the skin of the business at Beyond and will now be able to hit the ground running. She will be a terrific addition to the team.”

Beyond Rights was formed following the merger between TCB Media Rights and Beyond Distribution in July 2020.