TIME & LOCATION
About
Chair
SPONSOR
Panel
Head of Entertainment, BBC
Kalpna was appointed as Head of Entertainment in July 2022 and has over 20 years’ experience in television. Prior to joining the BBC Kalpna was the Head of Entertainment at Possessed and worked as an Executive Producer on entertainment shows including Celebs Go Dating and Surprise Surprise. Kalpna joined the BBC Entertainment department six years ago and most recently has been Commissioning Editor on series including Michael McIntyre’s The Wheel, QI, Blankety Blank and Gladiators. Kalpna set up and is chair of the BBC’s first ever Creative Diversity and Inclusion Panel, working closely with senior leadership to action long-term change in the TV industry.
Executive Producer, Managing Director Potato
Multiple BAFTA award-winning Executive Producer Michael Kelpie is the founder and Managing Director of production company Potato, which is part of ITV Studios. Since founding Potato in 2013 with a vision to make the TV he loves to watch, Michael has established an eclectic and highly successful roster of high-performing and award-winning quiz, entertainment, comedy, reality and factual shows, which have resulted in an extraordinary 2000+ hours of programming in the UK. As MD and Executive Producer, Michael oversees the development and production of the company’s slate. Under his stewardship, Potato has established itself as one the UK’s most prolific entertainment production companies, known for a heady mix between quiz and gameshow formats, celebrity and pop culture and documentary. Their productions include the BAFTA award-winning quiz show juggernaut The Chase, now in its 14th series, and its successful spin-offs Beat The Chasers, The Family Chase, The Chase Celebrity Specials, and US format The Chase USA. Potato’s hugely successful portfolio continues with Ninja Warrior UK, Iain Stirling’s CelebAbility, Moneyball, Sitting on a Fortune, Sam and Billie: The Mummy Diaries, Billie & Greg: The Family Diaries, Ferne McCann: First Time Mum, The Big Reunion, Blue Go Mad in Ibiza, Fearne &, The Krypton Factor and BAFTA award-winning Bear Grylls Survival School for ITV; Ant Middleton: Straight Talking, Four Weddings, Steps Reunion and Steps on the Road Again for Sky; and My Favourite Sketch (UKTV Gold). Potato’s roster of factual entertainment and documentaries include Autopsy USA: The Last Hours of... and Breaking the Band for Reelz, Inside Paddington 24/7, Inside King's Cross: The Railway, Whitney and Bobby: Addicted to Love, The Prince Story: Icon, Genius... Slave for Channel 5, and Britain's Secret Treasures, Martin Luther King by Trevor McDonald and David Harewood: In the Shadow of Mary Seacole for ITV. Michael has over 25 years’ experience in television with an extensive background in entertainment formats, having previously held roles at ITV Studios as Creative Director of Entertainment and Head of Format Entertainment, where he oversaw and executive produced a huge number of entertainment formats including You’ve Been Framed, Surprise Surprise, It’ll Be Alright On The Night, Krypton Factor and Saturday Night Divas. Prior to ITV Studios, Michael was a producer at BBC and Endemol, where his credits included Top of the Pops, Trevor Nelson’s Lowdown, and The Big C; and the Brit Awards 1999 & 2000, Music of the Millennium, The People’s Awards and Pepsi Chart Show respectively.
Managing Director of Global Creative & Production Support, ITV Studios
Mike Beale is Managing Director of the Global Creative & Production Support at ITV Studios, a creator, producer and distributor of world-leading programmes. Part of ITV plc, it includes the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster. ITV Studios crafts nearly 9,000 hours of original programming a year across 60+ production labels globally. Its footprint spans 13 countries including the UK, US, Australia, France, Germany, The Nordics, Italy, Israel and the Netherlands. Reporting to Julian Bellamy, Managing Director of ITV Studios, as leader of the Global Creative Mike helps to drive the creative and development efforts across the Group’s business globally with a particularly active role with the UK and US teams. He is responsible for identifying new opportunities to build ITV Studios’ creative pipeline via development deals and partnerships with format creators across the world. Mike also oversees the ongoing roll out of the formats managing the Production Support for all formats across globe ensuring best practices and brand alignment.
Co-CEO Big Mountain Productions
Jane co-founded Big Mountain Productions and leads creative and strategy across both companies in Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland with business and creative partnerships and teams across Europe and USA. Together with husband and business partner, Philip McGovern, they have created award-winning live event and formatted factual shows in Ireland, UK and USA and sell their shows and licences worldwide. Originally from West Belfast, Jane was first in her family to attend university in Edinburgh and joined the BBC Graduate Trainee Programme and was seconded to BBC North America Office for a year before working for many years as a producer/director, then SP on a range of programming for BBC and in the independent sector in USA, UK and Ireland. Jane has been invited to contribute to a number of industry round tables including C4 House of Commons Parliamentary Roundtable on Gender Representation and Role Models in the UK Screen Industries, DCMS Roundtable on the Privatisation of C4 and in Ireland, Enterprise Ireland’s Irish TV, Film and animation Roundtable. Jane is currently a peer-elected Board member of Pact Council (Rep for NI), a member of Board of Directors of TRC and a member of the BFI Unscripted Skills Fund Craft Committee.