Fremantle Oz hires ABC’s former head of entertainment & factual as unscripted chief

Josie Mason Campbell

Fremantle has hired the ABC’s former head of entertainment & factual to lead its unscripted output in Australia.

Josie Mason Campbell becomes head of unscripted and will oversee development, creative and production for Fremantle Australia.

The exec has most recently been working as a consultant, having left the ABC in 2020 following a restructuring, and before that was head of production & development for Aussie pay operator Foxtel.

Mason Campbell’s has worked on shows including Old People’s Home For Four-Year-Olds, Love On The Spectrum and Almost Australian, as well as Australia’s Ocean Odyssey and Outback Ringer.

Greg Woods, Fremantle Oz CEO, said Mason Campbell’s specialist expertise and strong relationships, as well as knowledge of our business and people” would help the group expand its unscripted efforts Down Under.

“Josie’s extensive experience will be pivotal in Fremantle Australia achieving our strategic objectives of significantly increasing our unscripted factual slate,” he added.

Mason Campbell, who starts late July, added: “After many years working with broadcasters, I’m thrilled to be moving back to the production sector, particularly with Fremantle who have a strong commitment to, and history of, creating high end factual and docs.”

Fremantle has been on a global push to increase its unscripted output over the 18 months. In November, it launched a new production arm in Spain headed by the head of non-fiction at Movistar+, Fernando Jerez, following the opening of UFA Documentary in Germany earlier that year and the hiring of former BBC exec Mandy Chang as global docs boss in May 2021.

Chang is a former colleague of Mason Campbell, having joined the BBC from Australia’s ABC in 2017 following the exit of Storyville’s former chief Nick Fraser.