Emmys Producer Completed+Dusted Names Melanie Fletcher as North America CEO

Longtime Done+Dusted associate Melanie Fletcher has been promoted to CEO of North America, recognizing her shift lately towards overseeing the expansion of the manufacturing firm’s enterprise. Fletcher’s promotion comes as D+D prepares to provide the 74th Emmy Awards for NBC subsequent month, in addition to upcoming specials like ABC’s “Norman Lear: 100 Years of Music and Laughter” and “Magnificence and The Beast: A thirtieth Celebration,” and “The Kennedy Heart Honors” for CBS.

In overseeing D+D’s U.S. enterprise, she’ll give attention to increasing the corporate’s output in authentic IP improvement, collection, manufacturers, reside specials, gaming and experiences. Fletcher, who has been with D+D since its early days, most just lately served as chief working officer.

“Truthfully, from the guts, Melanie is fucking wonderful,” stated D+D co-founder, TV director and Emmy nominee Hamish Hamilton. “She’s been an actual driving power inside our firm for a few years. Her imaginative and prescient and her management and her sort of motivational qualities are unparalleled. In order that’s actually why we determined to unleash her much more throughout the rising world of our enterprise. Folks genuinely love her and her capability to encourage and encourage and lead and likewise set up.”

As Selection wrote in January, D+D has spent the previous two years shifting into new markets, together with authentic collection and specials, immersive experiences, model displays and gaming-related programming. In keeping with Fletcher, the corporate wound up producing 33 reveals in 2020 and 38 packages in 2021 by way of its U.S., U.Okay. and Center East places of work.

“I’ve to actually have a look at the imaginative and prescient of the enterprise and the way we see ourselves shifting ahead, particularly provided that the media and leisure house continues to alter at speedy tempo,” Fletcher stated. “So I’m now centered on discovering our whitespace inside all of that, after which serving to the opposite companions drive ahead their pursuits. We’re sort of fortunate to a sure extent that all of us had separate pursuits. Mine may be very a lot now to steer the enterprise ahead.”

Specifically is the necessity to create in-house IP, she added. “For the longest time we’ve not been an IP producing enterprise. We’ve been an IP leveraging enterprise, the place we’ve been gifted probably the most treasured IP on the earth to create tales and spectacles,” Fletcher stated. “We’re trusted with that IP. And I believe that’s our superpower actually, however we frequently suppose why aren’t we producing our personal IP? So while in sharp focus is IP creation, and we now have a improvement workforce that may be very a lot available in the market with a half a dozen ideas in collection and specials, which we’re actually enthusiastic about.

“However the primary focus for us really is high quality management,” she stated. “It’s nice to broaden. It’s nice to do extra work, however now we have been recognized for our high quality. And so a part of my job is to actually work with the increasing groups on the right way to produce the Completed+Dusted manner, which must be a top-tier content material high quality. We’ll by no means enable that to waver.”

The CEO position means Fletcher must step again from govt producing — which she admits will likely be powerful, given the enjoyable of it. Her credit embrace the London 2012 Olympic opening and shutting ceremonies, in addition to live performance movies with main recording artists like Coldplay, the Rolling Stones, Adele, Madonna, Shakira, Pink, Shawn Mendes and Sam Smith.

As COO, Fletcher was instrumental in serving to D+D pivot throughout the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. “On the entire starting of COVID, it was actually powerful,” Hamilton stated. “We’re an occasions firm. It actually seemed dangerous. I imply, truthfully, there have been tears, there have been fears. There have been households and household houses on the road. We got here collectively as a bunch, as a household and located an answer. With an enormous quantity of onerous work and innovation and a little bit of luck, it actually turned our enterprise round. The nucleus of that was seven individuals mixed to make 27 around the globe. We’ve come out of it supremely a lot stronger, significantly better as an organization, a lot nearer as a unit. We positively really feel stronger collectively. And in a manner a part of this announcement is Mel taking her rightful named, revered designated place. There’s now a formality to this that possibly there wasn’t up to now though we sort of knew it to be true.”

Fletcher will stay based mostly in Completed + Dusted’s Los Angeles places of work, whereas Simon Pizey will stay as Group CEO main general firm management whereas additionally working operations for England, Europe and the Center East. In addition to Hamilton, different companions embrace president Ian Stewart, govt producer Katy Mullan, govt producer Man Carrington and govt producer David Jammy.

“It’s wonderful that inside our household, now we have somebody as proficient and as distinctive as Mel,” stated Hamilton, who’s up for his seventh Emmy nomination for excellent course for a range particular (for “The Pepsi Tremendous Bowl LVI Halftime Present Starring Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Kendrick Lamar and 50 Cent:) on the Emmys this 12 months. “And he or she’s gonna go on the market, throw it down, and she or he’s gonna take this firm to the subsequent degree. And you already know what, as brothers and sisters, we’re proper behind her and we couldn’t be extra proud or extra supportive.”

In taking up the CEO gig, Fletcher stated it was additionally essential to her as a girl in a male-dominated subject to characterize. “In our area of interest enterprise of reside leisure, there are only a few girls which might be within the C-suite, significantly in unbiased manufacturing firms,” she stated. “I’ve been within the enterprise since I used to be in my teenagers and I really feel like I’ve a accountability to be a frontrunner on that entrance, to point out different girls that they need to know their worth and they need to push forward. It’s that age-old saying of ‘see it, be it.’ That’s the factor I’m most proud about, that I’ve sort of cast this path now that I hope others are considering, ‘I’ve received this. I’m gonna go do this.’ I believe the business is altering, which is nice information for everybody.”