2023 commissioner briefs
LANA GREENHALGH Head of Scripted Originals Foxtel and BINGE
Lana began working with Foxtel in 2015 after leaving a career in the talent management industry to pursue her passion for television drama. She began as Scripted Production Coordinator working across Foxtel’s scripted production and development slate including Wentworth, A Place To Call Home, Picnic At Hanging Rock, Australia Day, Secret City: Under the Eagle, Lambs of God, The End and Upright.
Lana was promoted to Head of Scripted Originals for the Foxtel Group in 2023 where she works on the procurement, development, and production of all Foxtel Group scripted commissions. She most recently oversaw production as Executive Producer on the first BINGE Original series, Love Me Season 1 and 2, and Season 2 of the critically acclaimed Foxtel Series Upright as well as working across critically-acclaimed Foxtel Group Originals, The Twelve Season 1 and Colin From Accounts Season 1.
VICKI KEOGH Senior Director, Commissioning ANZ Warner Bros. Discovery
Vicki Keogh is a senior industry leader with a proven track record of commissioning must watch, brand-defining content that resonates with broad audiences across a range of platforms.
Vicki began her career as a journalist and producer/director in current affairs and factual television in the UK before moving to New Zealand and making the transition into commissioning at the nation’s state broadcaster TVNZ. Over the past 25 years she has commissioned and produced some of the highest rating prime-time series for the BBC, ITV, Sky, TVNZ and Warner Bros. Discovery including The Traitors NZ, Couples Therapy NZ, Drag Race Down Under, Taskmaster NZ and Dragon’s Den.
She joined Warner Bros. Discovery in 2022 and now leads the ANZ commissioning team overseeing the extensive slate of content produced for all platforms in the portfolio and supporting local productions on the world stage.
VIRGINIA HODGSON Senior Commissioner Unscripted Warner Bros. Discovery
Virginia Hodgson is a senior commissioner at Warner Bros Discovery ANZ and has had an extensive career as an executive producer across many genres including reality, factual, current affairs, lifestyle, and sport. Her credits include prime time series Big Brother, The NRL Footy Show, Emergency, The Living Room, The Real Housewives of Melbourne and Teen Mom AU and live daily entertainment show Midday with Ray Martin.
Other credits include Ready Steady Cook, House Rules AU and ABC series Strictly Speaking and Photo Finish.
Virginia started her career as a journalist at News Ltd’s Daily Telegraph and The Australian. She held senior roles on Nine’s Sixty Minutes and A Current Affair and was co-executive producer of the Sir Donald Bradman documentary, 89 Not Out.
She left Channel Nine to take up the role of publisher of mass weekly women’s magazine New Idea where she achieved circulation increases after a five year decline. She was also publisher of leading entertainment magazine TV Week and oversaw the magazine’s TV partnership of TV Week Logies. Several of Virginia’s shows have won multiple Logies and a Walkley Commendation for The Footy Show.
TINA McLAREN Senior Commissioner Scripted Warner Bros. Discovery
Tina McLaren is a senior industry practitioner who has produced hundreds of hours of drama, documentary, and reality TV in the New Zealand Screen Production sector for more than 25 years.
As TVNZ’s Drama Commissioner from 2009 to 2017 Tina was responsible for the multi award winning Sunday Theatre Strand – Resolve, How To Murder Your Wife, Bombshell, Hillary, Jean to name a few. She was at the forefront of digital commissions for the Network, including the ground-breaking interactive online drama Reservoir Hill, which made history by earning New Zealand’s first International Digital Emmy Award.
Tina left TVNZ to take up the role of Head of Production at Screentime NZ in 2017, a post she held for 5 years. Tina is currently a Senior Commissioner for Warner Bros. Discovery ANZ, responsible for commissioning scripted content for THREE and THREENow.
OLIVER JONES Senior Commissioning Executive Apple TV+
Originally from the UK, Oliver is a Senior Commissioning Executive, currently based in LA, for Apple TV+. His focus is international scripted programming spanning original series development and production, co-production and acquisition. He sources, develops and produces shows from all international territories outside of the US.
Oliver played a key role in the acquisition and development of Tehran, which won Best Drama Series at the International Emmy's in 2021, as well as the acquisition of Red Skies from Yoav Gross productions, created by Ron Leshem, Amit Cohen, and Daniel Amsel, to be released on Apple TV+ soon. He's also responsible for Masters of The Air (EP'S: Steven Spielberg & Tom Hanks, Dir: Cary Fukunaga), Disclaimer (SR & Director: Alfonso Cuaron), Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (Godzilla/Kong returning series, Studios: Legendary/Toho), Sunny (Starring: Rashida Jones, Studio A24), The New Look (Chanel/Dior returning series, SR: Todd Kessler, Starring: Ben Mendelsohn & Juliette Binoche), Ferrari (SR: Steve Knight, Studio: Fremantle/The Apartment), Constellation (SR: Peter Harness, Studio: Turbine/Haut Et Court), and Losing Alice (SR: Sigal Avin, Studio: Dori Media).
Prior to joining Apple, Oliver was Vice President of scripted development at Fremantle. Highlights he worked on include American Gods (Neil Gaiman / Starz), Mosquito Coast (Neil Cross/Apple TV+) and Gormenghast (Neil Gaiman / Akiva Goldsman/ Showtime). Prior to this, he worked at The Weinstein Company, where he was responsible for Yellowstone (Paramount Network) and Imagine TV, with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, where he worked on Empire (FOX).
CAROLYN CARBONE International Creative Development Apple TV+
Originally from New York, Carolyn is currently residing in Los Angeles. She works in Development on the Apple TV+ International team. Prior to that, Carolyn was a Development Executive at Amazon Local Originals team and Sony’s International Networks Division.
With 10 years of experience, she’s developed television content in local and English language, and has produced outside the US and for a global audience.
Her passion for International content stems lies in the great opportunity for finding new models of storytelling, especially now, given the reach of streaming services. She considers herself a connector, specifically when it comes to diverse storytellers expanding their existing audiences to broader, global ones.